Did you think I would leave you?
by jamie2109
Summary: Series of ficlets that tell the story of the friendship and later romance of Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy. Begins right from first year, through to seventh.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, only the plot and situations.

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This will be a series of small ficlets that chronicle Albus and Scorpius' life and friendship at Hogwarts right from first year through to seventh. Each part will be based on a prompt for the AWDT Livejournal comm. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

jamie.

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Chapter 1.

"Bloody James," Al fumed as he stormed down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking for an empty carriage. Honestly, was it too much to ask that his brother leave off the teasing for one bloody minute? After all the stories he'd heard from his cousins and James about Slytherins, it was only natural that he have some real concerns about being placed in that House. His father had said that the bravest man he knew had been a Slytherin, and he knew he'd been named after him, but still, Al knew deep in his heart that his dad would want him in Gryffindor, just like he had been. Just like his mum, and his uncles and virtually all his bloody relatives. And James just wouldn't shut up about it, teasing him mercilessly about becoming a snake and gleefully hissing in his ear whenever he walked past.

It made him so angry he refused to sit with them, any of them, for his first ride to Hogwarts; something he'd been looking forward to ever since he could remember hearing the name. But the constant teasing was spoiling his enjoyment and the final straw had been when James stood in the doorway to the carriage and refused to let him in, claiming that Slytherins weren't welcome. It may have been only teasing and Al knew that his brother was not that cruel, really, but it had been once too often and Al was heartily sick and tired of it. So, he'd glared at James and walked away.

Now, he had to find somewhere else to sit and with the train about to depart, most of the carriages were full. The carriages with the older students were out; they wouldn't take kindly to a first year intruding on their space. Besides there didn't seem to be much room in any of those, anyway.

Almost seriously considering just sitting down in the passageway, Al finally spotted a carriage with only one occupant, a boy with white blonde hair and glasses, dressed already in plain black school robes and reading a book. He wasn't someone that Al knew but he looked harmless enough. Perhaps he could make a new friend before he even got to Hogwarts.

That pleasant thought calmed his annoyance at his brother and with a sense of optimism he opened the door.

"Wondered how long you were going to stand out there for," said the blond boy, looking up from his book and raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Al said, grinning. "Just trying to calm down so I didn't inflict my bad temper on you. I'm Al Potter," he said, holding out his hand.

The boy looked at him for several seconds, and Al sighed. Great, here was another git who recognised his last name and was going to make a bloody fuss over it. He was just about to move away when a pale slim hand joined his and shook it.

"Scorpius Malfoy," the boy replied, and it was Al's turn to stare. He'd heard of the Malfoys of course. Stories told to him by his family about the war always included mention of Malfoys and the great rivalry between Al's father and Scorpius' father. His Uncle Ron, along with most of the rest of the Weasleys, would add their intense dislike of the Malfoy name to those stories. His dad tended to stay out of it, though.

But that was history and had nothing to do with this boy and himself and if he wanted to make friends with Scorpius, he would. If he was going to be the black sheep of the family and be sorted into Slytherin, he may as well go all out and befriend a Malfoy too. Malfoy's were generally Slytherins as well, weren't they? Al nodded, smiling. "Pleasure," he said, and pulled his hand away.

"You're Harry Potter's son, aren't you?" Scorpius asked. He sounded a bit posh to Al, who was used to the casual speech of his relatives. At least there was no gawking. Al hated all that stuff. His dad always said that he should just be nice to them and go about his business, but to Al it was mortifying. It was all such ancient history and Harry Potter was just dad to him, not some war hero, saviour or whatever.

Maybe Scorpius wasn't the type to care about all that. He nodded in reply to the question. "Yeah, is that going to be a problem?"

Scorpius grinned. "Not if my last name isn't a problem for you. Our families are hardly friendly."

"That's true," Al agreed, returning the grin. "Honestly?"

"No, I'd prefer you to lie to me, Potter," Scorpius drawled, rolling his eyes.

He thought for a moment, trying to decide between truth and kindness. In all honesty, it probably was going to be a problem…but not for him. James and most of his family could bitch about him being friends with a Malfoy all they liked, but right at that moment Al didn't care.

"Probably," he shrugged, opting for truth after all. But when he saw a small flash of disappointment in his new friends face, he grinned again. "But it's their problem, not mine."

"Well said, Potter," Scorpius smiled approvingly.

Al tossed his bag up onto the rack and sat down opposite Scorpius, very pleased with himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not Mine. I'm just having fun with the New Gen characters.

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This series of ficlets chronicles Albus and Scorpius' lives from their first year at Hogwarts, through to their seventh, following their friendship through to an eventual romance. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

jamie

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"Push off, Davies," Al snarled, jumping to his feet so quickly the library chair he'd been sitting on was flung violently backwards, crashing to the floor.

"Why? So you and your poncy boyfriend can continue whispering sweet nothings into each others ears?" Aaron Davies sneered, maliciously.

Al took a threatening step forward, intent on making Davies pay for insinuating that Scorpius was poncy. Or that he was his boyfriend. A forceful tug on his arm and a worried voice held him back.

"He's not worth it, Al," Scorpius said.

Al turned to look at his friend, seeing the concern on his face. Scorpius was right; Aaron Davies was just a loud-mouthed classmate that liked to stir things up. He should know better by now than to react every time the creep made some snide remark about them. Davies wasn't the only one, either. Barely a week went by that someone didn't make some sort of comment about the friendship between the sons of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. Al sighed and nodded, turning back to face Davies, while Scorpius collected their books, hurriedly.

"No, you're not worth a detention, Davies. You're still jealous because Scorpius was sorted into Ravenclaw while you ended up a Hufflepuff instead of Ravenclaw like your parents. Well, get over it! Nobody cares."

Davies flushed angrily and pushed himself right up in Al's face. "Not jealous, Potter, just disgusted that a Malfoy is befouling the good name of Ravenclaw, when he should be slinking in the dungeons with the other slimy snakes. Like you are."

An odd calm came over Al then, and despite the constant tugging on his arm from Scorpius, Al smiled. Davies was pathetically jealous, after all. And then he laughed, turned to Scorpius and flung his arm around the smaller boy's shoulder, ignoring Davies. "Come on, Scorpius, we're going to be late for dinner. You sitting with us again?"

He caught the relieved smile on Scorpius' face, and then his friend's eyes lit with mischievous amusement, just for a moment. "Only if you promise to feed me personally, Potter." Scorpius looked up at Al, taking on a haughty expression. "I expect my meat cut into perfect squares and if you use your own fork this time I might have to hex you."

Al threw back his head and laughed as they walked out of the Library, Scorpius carrying both their books and Al's arm still draped over Scorpius' shoulder.

Down the corridor, Scorpius dropped the act and moved out from under Al's arm. "You shouldn't really bait him like that, you know," he said.

"I know, I'm just sick of it. I'm proud of being sorted into Slytherin now, but the whole House system still sucks. Some people just won't let it go, though," Al replied, tiredly.

"Like your Uncle Ron, you mean?"

"Maybe," Al shrugged. "Yes," he admitted. Uncle Ron was the most vocal about having a nephew who was a Slytherin, something Rose Weasley confessed to Al in tears one day. He liked his cousin, but his Uncle Ron could take a running jump, Al thought, as he looked fondly at Scorpius. His friendship with Scorpius wasn't always easy and they drove each other crazy at times, especially when Scorpius got all snooty on him, but he knew that what they had was solid and real. And no one, not even his Uncle Ron, was going to change that. Nor were loud-mouthed idiots like Davies.

"So," Al grinned. "You don't want to be my poncy boyfriend after all?"

Scorpius turned and punched Al in the arm. "No! Idiot boy," he grinned back, before charging off down the corridor, blond hair and robes flying out behind him. "You'll have to catch me first!"

Al took off after him, and their laughter echoed off the walls as they ran, arriving breathless at the Great hall just in time for dinner.

Davies had yet to arrive, which wasn't surprising, as they'd both run the whole way themselves, and it gave Al an idea. He told Scorpius to take a seat with the Slytherins, and took a detour past the spot where Davies usually sat for his meal. He chatted to a couple of the other Hufflepuffs about a Potions assignment while he surreptitiously dropped a pellet into Davies' goblet. When he saw Davies enter the Great Hall he gave the students a quick wave goodbye, and returned to his seat beside Scorpius.

"What did you do?" Scorpius asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, nothing," Al said airily, refusing to elaborate no matter how hard Scorpius pinched him.

He was sure he wouldn't have to wait too long, though, and he kept one eye on Davies, while trying to join in the conversation that was taking place around him. Scorpius was chatting across the table with Posey Greengrass. It made Al smile that mostly his housemates accepted Scorpius sitting with them from time to time. Students sitting with other Houses for meals was something that had been happening more and more often over the years and had gone a long way to breaking down the barriers between the Houses.

A badly repressed giggle from beside him made Al look up. The sight of Aaron Davies with bright green hair almost caused him to snort pumpkin juice through his nose. The Hufflepuffs were trying hard to hold back their snickers of amusement, too. Davies was not very popular.

"What did you do, Al?" Scorpius whispered.

"Lets just say that Uncle Ron and Uncle George are good for something after all," Al replied. It really was just luck that he'd had something suitable in the pockets of his robes. The 'colour-me-deadly-sins' that Uncle George had developed recently were really perfectly appropriate. He must remember to thank Rose for the supply.

"Why is it green?" Scorpius asked.

Al looked at him and grinned. "Why, because green is the colour of jealousy." Al replied. "Look"

Aaron Davies' hair had begun to flash red and green, and each time it changed colour a bright flashing sign appeared above his head. When it was green, the sign said 'jealousy' and when it was red the sign said 'anger'. Davies was staring at Al, a look of pure rage on his face.

Al hoped that the colour didn't change to purple, right now - then he really would have a problem. Purple was the colour of 'lust'.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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A/N: Hope that you guys are enjoying my little series. I'll be doing 3 - 4 ficlets for each year they are at Hogwarts, until seventh year in which there will be a much more in depth story that will encompass the entire year. 

Hopefully you'll stick with me on their journey

jamie.

xxxx

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The girl was looking at him in silent awe. He wished she would stop. It was bad enough that Potter's mother looked at him with a faintly disgusted curl to her lip when he'd arrived the day before yesterday - he was used to the way some people treated him because of his name. This youngest Potter, Lily, had an entirely different look on her face and it unnerved him, disarmed him completely and as a result, put him on the defensive. She'd followed him around like a puppy ever since he'd arrived. Wherever he and Al went, she followed, her big eyes stuck to him like glue.

Only when Al complained to his mum or dad, had Lily been forced to leave them alone.

"Why does she keep following us around like that?" Al grouched, as he flung himself down on his bed beside Scorpius who had been quietly reading a new Potions manual.

Scorpius pushed the glasses back up on his face and dropped the book he'd been reading, turning to look at his best friend and smirking. "She's just never seen anyone quite so stunning as me," he said.

"You?" Al spluttered, laughing. "You're too pointy to be stunning, git," he finished by nudging Scorpius' thigh with his bent knee.

"I'll have you know, I am not pointy at all. Though if you don't take that back you might just find the pointy end of my wand stuck in your throat." Scorpius was pompous but there was an underlying teasing in his tone that spoke of familiarity and not anger.

Al backed down by poking Scorpius in the side. "She's just a kid, don't pay any attention to her hero worship."

"I know. She's your kid sister and I'm a novelty," Scorpius said, rolling his eyes. He knew Al loved his siblings, even James who, at times, still tried to make life hard for both of them with his teasing, though it had lessened over the months since they'd started school. He thought that letters from Al's dad made things easier.

Scorpius didn't like James much. He'd tolerate him for Al, because Al was his best friend, but he didn't like him much. Actually, as he looked down at Al who was lying on his back looking at the ceiling and seeming very far away, he thought he would put up with a lot for Al. No matter that they seemed to be opposite in many ways; himself being much more academic than Al, and Al being the prankster of the two, Scorpius couldn't image a time in his life when he wouldn't have Al as his best friend. It pained him more than he'd like to admit thinking about not having Al as a friend.

"What are you thinking about, Al," Scorpius asked. Al kept his eyes on the ceiling, but he smiled.

"Not much. Just thinking what we can do today. If you're going home tomorrow, then we don't have much time left."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. You think of something. Everything here is stuff I've done a hundred times." Al grinned. "That's why I asked you to come here this Christmas, so I wouldn't be bored."

"Potter!" Scorpius thumped Al's leg. "I'm not here for your entertainment. If anything you should be entertaining me!" He caught Al's grin then, and knew he was joking. "Prat. Just for that you can wait until tomorrow for your Christmas present!"

"You bought me a gift?" Al said, sitting up.

"Of course. Did you think I wouldn't?" Scorpius sounded offended. If Al was going to be his best friend forever, then he was going to make sure that he kept him by not forgetting the little things, like making sure he knew that Scorpius valued his friendship.

"Well," Al replied, scratching his head. "I wasn't sure if it was the done thing…or what… your family did to celebrate Christmas, and…I didn't want to…'

"Oh my, Potter, now that was eloquent," Scorpius teased. It wasn't often that Al was like that. At school he was generally this brash, confident Slytherin who always knew what to say and how to say it, but Scorpius had noted in the couple of days since he'd been here, that Al and his dad had that trait in common – sometimes, when they were flustered or put on the spot they tended to forget how to speak in full sentences.

Scorpius took Al's flustered state to mean that his friend hadn't a gift for him. And he didn't mind, not really, he told himself. It was new to both of them, this present giving thing between friends.

"Shut up, you," Al said good naturedly, nudging him again and making Scorpius grin at the flush of pink across Al's cheeks.

Al jumped off the bed and dug around in his wardrobe for a bit, pulling out a brightly gift wrapped present. "Here," he said, placing it on the bed and immediately sitting down again, the pink flush on his cheeks more pronounced than ever.

Scorpius smiled at the gift and relented, retrieving Al's gift from his bag. One that was wrapped in exactly the same deep gold shiny paper with a silver ribbon. One that was exactly the same shape and size.

The two boys looked at each other, the laughter brimming clearly in their faces and Al's embarrassment all but gone.

"Honeydukes?" they both said in unison, before nodding at each other and letting the restrained laughter go.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not Mine

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A/N: Next in this little series of ficlets. This is the last one for first year. Hope you enjoy it. 

jamie

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Chapter 4. 

Scorpius yawned and removed his glasses, dropping them on the table beside his stack of books. It was late, and he knew he should be heading off to bed. The common room was empty; his housemates having retired hours ago, leaving him with caring words and pity on their faces. He'd tried to ignore their looks; he knew they meant well, but they annoyed him, anyway. He didn't want their pity; he didn't want their kind words, and he didn't need their help. He would find the answer to this on his own. He was a Malfoy, and he needed no one.

Although, right now, he did miss Al.

He still wondered at their friendship. For the first few months he'd kept waiting for the shoe to drop; kept waiting for Al to discover that it was too hard being the friend of a Malfoy. He'd been sure that once Al had grown used to being in Slytherin; made new friends amongst his housemates, that Scorpius would be dropped like yesterdays news. But it had never happened, and once Scorpius had overcome his insecurities he had been completely charmed by Al's easy friendship.

Al who always seemed to appear whenever Scorpius needed him. Al who intuitively seemed to know when Scorpius needed to laugh, or be rescued from studying too hard, or was able to just sit with Scorpius when he didn't feel like talking. Al who defended him against pricks like Davies. Scorpius absentmindedly rubbed over a tender place on his shoulder, which was the result of a rather rough shove into a stone wall he'd received from Davies yesterday.

Al wouldn't tell him that his search was pointless; wouldn't remind him that he was just a kid and if all the best Healers at St. Mungos couldn't find a cure for his mother's condition, then what chance did he have? No, his best friend would likely grin that goofy grin of his, tell him he was being a swot, and point out that if Mrs. Weasley hadn't been such a bookworm then in all likelihood none of them would even be here.

Then he'd sit down and make Scorpius tell him what he'd been researching, leading Scorpius to look at things from a different perspective, which was an enormous help in enabling him to order his thought processes. Often that alone triggered a new avenue he could research.

He could do with some of that Potter support right about now, he thought wearily as he passed a hand over his tired eyes. Tonight's research intoMysterious Malaises had been entirely fruitless. When he looked up at the clock, he saw it was after 3am and he sighed, knowing that not even Al would be awake right now.

Scorpius closed the book he'd been reading and put it on top of the others at the edge of the table. After putting his glasses back on, he picked up a piece of parchment covered in his elegant writing, and read it through, scowling that he had no better news for his father in his daily note to him.

//Father,

Has anyone ever read every book in the Hogwarts library? I feel like I've only skimmed the surface and every time I follow up some piece of information, books appear that I'm sure were never there the first time I looked.

Unfortunately, I've discovered nothing new, or at least nothing relevant to mother's condition. I'm sorry, I'll keep trying of course, but it's discouraging. Is there any news; any change? It seems pointless asking that question, as I know you'd owl me immediately there was any change, but...

I worry about her. And you, too. I'm happy that you're at least going home nights, now and letting the house-elfs feed you, but I bet you're still not sleeping properly. Fa – dad, please look after yourself. I don't want to lose both my parents.//

Scorpius frowned; he didn't like being so blunt with his father. Theirs had always been a difficult relationship. Not that he didn't love his father, far from it. It was just sometimes a tight rope to walk between hitting his father between the eyes before he'd see something that was as plain as the nose on his face, or saying too much and watching him slide into what he termed 'old habits'; acting like his grandfather – a cruel, arrogant cad of a man. In this instance, Scorpius knew that he needed to force his father to worry about himself by laying the guilt trip on him.

Father had told him that he shouldn't worry himself sick about his mother, because everyone was doing all they could to understand this unusual coma she'd slipped into after this last miscarriage. Someone had to tell him to listen to his own advice.

After a month, though, even Scorpius was beginning to think there was nothing anyone could do. That didn't mean he was going to stop trying. There simply had to be an answer somewhere!

Scorpius picked up his quill and finished penning the rest of his letter, trying to end it on a happier note.

//Al said that his dad was going to visit you. Maybe between the two of you, you can work out when Al and I can visit over the summer? I do want to be with mother and I will keep researching, but I do need…

I'm sure you'll work out something suitable.

Give my love to mother when you see her, and don't forget to meet the train on Friday.

Love,

Scorpius.//

He was just rolling the parchment, when the door to the common room opened and closed again for no apparent reason. Scorpius' eyes narrowed and then brightened into a pleased smirk.

"You can remove the cloak, Al, you're not fooling anyone."

"It wasn't meant to fool you, git," Al said, shrugging off the Invisibility cloak. "Corner is out doing rounds and I'd rather not be caught out after curfew again. Last time he threatened to use those chains his predecessor left. Remember?"

Scorpius shuddered at that thought, and then noticed that Al was carrying a tray with two steaming mugs of something hot on it. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "It's after three."

"Thought you'd still be up and you could use some hot chocolate. So I went down to the kitchens and bribed one of the house-elfs for a couple." Al headed to the couch and placed the tray on the table in front of him. Scorpius was deeply touched by Al's thoughtfulness.

"Thanks. What would you have done if I'd been asleep?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Drank both of them and headed back to bed," Al replied, patting the couch in invitation. "Then blamed you tomorrow for sleeping in and being late for class," he joked. "Come on, you look done in. Time for a break."

Scorpius joined Al on the couch and the two boys picked up their mug of hot chocolate and leaned back into the soft plush of the couch. Almost as one they lifted their feet and rested them on the table, crossed at the ankles. It was humorous enough to make Scorpius grin; the first grin he'd felt on his face all day.

His chocolate, when he sipped it was the perfect temperature and the sigh that escaped his lips was one of pleasure and exhaustion, mixed.

"Still no change, then?" Al asked. Scorpius shook his head.

"No. Nothing."

"What have you worked on, tonight, then?" Al asked, turning bright, interested eyes towards him.

Scorpius sighed and began to tell Al about the Mysterious Malaises book he'd been researching. As he continued speaking, interspersing talk with drinking chocolate, the trials of the day began to catch up with him and he turned a little and leant comfortably back against Al's shoulder. He barely registered Al questioning some of the details he'd been talking about, but the last thing Scorpius did remember was the soothing sound of Al's voice as he dropped off to sleep


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not Mine, just having a little fun.

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Authors notes: I want to say a huge thank you to all the reviewers. It's really wonderful having lovely reviews for a pairing that is still so brand new, so thank you all so much. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Oh, and the boys are in second year now.

jamie

xxx

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The Bloody Baron was having his yearly fun at the expense of the Hogwarts students. He'd give a berserkers roar and charge, weapon extended as he proceeded to spear them through with his long sword. Al was used to him being a proper prig, pretending to be superior and looking down his nose at them all, especially those not from Slytherin. According to the Baron, he'd been placed under a good behaviour wizards oath many years ago after he had frightened so many of the first years, that for the first time in history there was a danger of the Infirmary running out of calming draught. This had incensed Madam Pomfrey to the extent that she'd insisted the Headmaster censure the Baron or she would leave.

However, once a year, at Halloween, he was allowed to run rampant under the guise of celebrations. And of course, the students expected it now, so there was no more clamouring to get into the Infirmary for refuge. It was a badge of honour of sorts these days to have been run through by the Bloody Baron at Halloween

Al chuckled seeing Scorpius standing bravely, facing the Baron who was gearing up for another attack. Scorpius stood there, hands on his hips, legs braced wide apart and chin lifted in defiance. It was all part of the game, he knew, but last year at their first Halloween, they'd not realised quite how hard it was to stand there and not flinch when someone – ghost or not - charged at you with a sword. He looked so tiny standing there, but Al knew that under that slight exterior Scorpius was tougher than he looked. He had to be with his mum still in a coma. Al had no idea how he'd cope if it were his mum.

Looking at Scorpius now, he could see the narrowed eyes, the 'come and get me' attitude and the determination to take whatever came. But as Scorpius' eyes flicked to Al for a fraction of a second, he could also see the humour in them. It was good to see Scorpius without his glasses on for a change, too. He was so often buried in mounds of books, both for schoolwork and researching medical books for his mum, that Al began to wonder if he just left his glasses on all the time.

A resounding cheer went up as the Baron gave a blood-curdling yell, roared past him and sliced through Scorpius, before clattering to the other end of the Great Hall and turning, looking for another go. The cheer was for Scorpius who stood there and did not move a muscle, apart from the faint shudder as he felt the cold ghost pass through him.

Al rushed over and clapped Scorpius on the back, smiling with pride. Scorpius looked back at him a victorious grin on his face. Everyone knew that it was just a game, really, and nothing like facing a real enemy, but it was fun and something to brag about, especially to Aaron Davies who'd squealed like a girl when the Baron had charged him this morning.

"Well done, Scorpius!" Al cheered. "Davies can shove that up his arse."

"And choke on it," Scorpius crowed, jubilantly.

Several other boys joined them. Bobby Longbottom from Hufflepuff, Chance Smith from Ravenclaw, Seamus Finnigan Jnr. who was a Slytherin and Hugo Weasley from Gryffindor. It was a curious mix of houses, which Al was pleased to see. Of course he'd not known what it was like when the Houses were truly divided, but his mum and dad had told him stories of how mostly the Houses had stuck to their own kind. It was rare that people found friends outside their own House back then. His dad had said it was mostly mistrust because of the war; people were scared and didn't know whom they could trust.

But it was good now, though Al knew that Scorpius didn't really like his cousin Hugo; only tolerated him for their friendship. If you caught Scorpius in a bad mood, he'd forget that Hugo was Al's cousin and get this really snotty superior look on his face and sneer at Hugo, making comments about Hugo's dad being so mean to Al about being sorted into Slytherin. Then Hugo would start on Scorpius' father, and things could get entirely out of hand from there. Al had to remind both of them that they weren't their fathers before they'd settle.

It had been worse when they'd come back after summer break, because both of them had had months of listening to their fathers rant about the other one. Al knew because he'd heard the arguments between his dad and Uncle Ron over his dad's continuing visits to see Scorpius' dad. Personally, Al thought it all a bit stupid. Why did Uncle Ron care if his dad went to see Mr. Malfoy? He'd been really nice to Al for the time he'd spent there over the summer, even though it must have been hard with his wife in a coma in hospital.

"Hey, Scorpius, that little display calls for a celebration of the banned contraband type," Seamus said, rubbing his hands together and grinning. "What's say we get some supplies and meet up in the Room of Requirement after dinner?"

Bobby gasped. "Seamus! We're a bit young to be drinking. I don't think that's a good idea," he said, frowning. Hugo was looking doubtful as well, but Al noticed Chance was enthusiastic.

Al leant close and whispered in Bobby's ear. "Don't worry, mate, Seamus has never managed to produce an alcoholic drink in his life. It'll taste like shit but won't do anything."

Bobby looked at him, doubtfully, and Al nodded and leant in again. "Promise. We humour him because it's safer. If he thinks it's alcoholic he won't go and buy real stuff."

A muffled snort was the only reply Al got, because he found himself being dragged away by the arm and Scorpius calling out to the others as they left. "Meet you all there in an hour! Have your best ghost stories ready and we'll make a night of it."

Al waved goodbye and disentangled his arm from his friends grip. "Where are we going?" he said.

"To see a ghost," Scorpius replied.

"And that would be because…?"

"Just to arrange some ghostly accompaniments to the stories tonight," he said, mysteriously.

"Scorpius, what are you planning?"

"Remember you told me about the death-day party your dad and his friends went to in their second year?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, I want you to tell that story tonight, and when you do, I want the Headless Horsemen to roll their heads through the walls and scare the daylights out of them," Scorpius said with an evil grin on his face.

"Scorpius Malfoy, are you sure you should have been sorted into Ravenclaw?" Al laughed.

"Of course," Scorpius replied haughtily. "Takes a brain to think up a decent prank like this."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

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Authors Notes: 

In response to some reviews I've had here and elsewhere, I just wanted to answer a couple of questions. This series is a series of snap shots into the lives of Albus and Scorpius during the first six years of their schooling at Hogwarts. I will be choosing 3-4 different times during each of the years and showing you a scene from their lives. Now, I could fill each ficlet with lots of exposition as to what's been happening in the meantime between 'glimpses', but that really just makes for long and boring reading. As much as possible I will work in any further information on the previous 'glimpse' that is needed for the story line, in a way that isn't just me telling you. Chapters 9,10 and 11 all run together as the theme was too big to fit into one 'glimpse', but other than that, these are glimpses only at isolated incidences in years one through to six. Year seven we'll get a much more rounded out story and then you'll already have their history. :) And those chapters will be much longer.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading this little chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

jamie.

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 6. 

Al had been sitting in the chair across the table, scrubbing hands through his hair at odd intervals. There was a frown on his face and he was squirming about in his chair so often it was beginning to annoy Scorpius. He found it hard to concentrate when Al was so fidgety while he was trying to study.

Finally, he sighed and looked up, over the top of his glasses. "What is the matter with you?" he asked, knowing full well that Al found it hard to concentrate for long periods of time, especially in History of Magic. He'd told Scorpius a number of times that he found it incredibly off-putting to be studying about his dad as if he were some mythical historical figure. Scorpius had nodded in support.

"I hate this," he sighed. "Half of it is wrong, or blown out of proportion anyway, dad says."

Scorpius put his book down, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get back to his own study any time soon. "What can you do about it?"

"Nothing," Al grouched. "I know, I have to study it, and I will. I mean, I know half of it anyway, how hard can it be to misremember a few facts? It just irritates me."

"I know," Scorpius agreed. "How about we take a break for a bit, then?"

"Sure." Al smiled and stretched his arms above his head, straightening out his body and flexing it from side to side. Scorpius watched, amused.

"Hey," Al said. "It's your birthday next week. If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?"

Stupid question, Al, Scorpius thought, while he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, sighing.

"Oh, damn, sorry," Al apologised.

"No, it's alright. I'm just starting to think that no one will ever find a cure for her and I don't know whether to grieve or still cling to hope. Father's a bit lost, too, though your dad helps. Not that my father would ever admit that." He gave Al a grateful smile as he ran a hand through his own perfectly groomed hair and thought about his father. In every letter he complained how Al's dad was such an arrogant arse, always turning up and annoying him so much that he left the house just to get away from the prat, and how he only put up with 'perfect bloody Potter' because he was Scorpius' best friends father. Scorpius saw behind the lie easily and knew that begrudgingly, his father appreciated Mr. Potter.

"I just…if she goes, I will never have had the chance to say goodbye, you know?" Scorpius continued, quietly. "My last memory of her will be seeing her lying there in the hospital, still and alone and barely breathing."

Al's hand reached over and grabbed his wrist. "I know mate. I'm sorry."

* * *

.o0o.

* * *

"Scorpius, wake up!" 

Al was shaking his shoulder but Scorpius didn't want to wake up, so he grumbled something and turned over, intending to go back to sleep.

"Scorpius! Wake up, Come on, it's your birthday." Al's irritating babble cut through his sleep and he cracked open one eye to see that it was still dark and his bed was illuminated by only a soft light from the end of Al's wand.

"Al, what are you doing here? What bloody time is it anyway?"

"Don't care what time it is, because it's your birthday and I have a present for you."

Al's bloody annoying chirpy voice and the bouncing on his bed were really grating on Scorpius' nerves, and he looked at his clock. "Fuck, Al, it's bloody 4am. Can't this wait until morning?"

"Nope," Al said, loudly.

"Shhhh, you'll wake everyone up."

That quieted Al, who stopped bouncing and pointed to a rather large looking parcel on the table beside the bed. "Happy birthday, Scorpius," he said, softly.

Still slightly exasperated, Scorpius smiled at Al and turned to unwrap the gift. When he tried to lift it, Al stopped him by putting his hand on his arm. "Just rip the paper off the top, it's not something you want to upset too much."

Scorpius frowned but did what he said, and when he'd uncovered the gift his mouth dropped open in amazement. "You bought me a pensieve?" he asked, doubtfully.

"Well, no, I don't have enough money for that, but I wrote and asked dad for the loan of his. Go on." Al indicated the pensieve full of the silvery liquid of memories. "Your dad supplied the memories for me," he finished with a smile.

"Wha…?" Scorpius was a bit stunned, but Al just gave his arm a nudge and reiterated his entreaty to have a look. "You want to come with me?"

"No." Al shook his head. "Not the first time. Next time, maybe."

"What are they of?" Scorpius asked.

"Who else? Your mum," Al replied, grinning. "I couldn't get you exactly what you wanted for your birthday, so I tried the next best thing. I thought you might like to have these memories, for when…for if, well, if you don't…"

Scorpius cut Al off by hugging him tightly. "Thank you," he whispered, barely able to keep his voice from cracking, which it had an annoying habit of doing lately, right at the most inconvenient times.

He looked at the swirling mist in the bowl and took a deep breath before closing his eyes and plunging his head through the surface. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in his own bedroom, it's pale green walls dotted with colourful posters of the Montrose magpies Quidditch team, and various pictures of himself and Al, or himself and his family.

And with a catch in his breath, he saw his mother sitting on the side of his bed. Her dark hair fell about her shoulder obscuring her face. She was, he noticed, looking down at himself in the bed. He was sleeping, he saw as he moved closer, and his mother's elegant hand was brushing a lock of hair from his face. Oh, how he wished he could feel that hand on his face again.

"Sleep well, Scorpius," his mother's soft voice wafted over him and made him shiver. It had been so long since he'd heard her gentle voice. So long since he'd felt her warm words soothe his worries or laugh with him. He missed her so much. His throat began to hurt and his eyes filled with tears that he crossly blinked away; annoyed that blurry vision would stop him seeing his mother clearly.

She stood, and turned, walking straight towards him, a smile on her face that he had only ever seen her smile at his father. He realised then that as this was his father's memory, of course she would be smiling at him like that.

Then the picture went blurry and he was glad. As much as he wanted to see his mother, those private moments between her and his father weren't something he'd feel too comfortable seeing.

There were many similar scenes. Ones where his mother had watched him at play, or eating his meals, and mostly when Scorpius was unaware of her watching him. As each one went by, Scorpius felt more and more like he had a part of his mother back with him, and he would remember to thank his father for sharing these memories with him.

And Al. What he'd done to deserve a friend like Al, he didn't know. How do you thank someone who handed you back a huge part of your life, just to make you feel better?

By the time the last vision came, Scorpius was shaking and he'd let the tears fall unashamedly down his face. The last vision was on the platform at the station while he was waiting to get on the train to Hogwarts last year. At the time he'd been anxious to get away and chafed under the attention of his mother. Now, he moved to stand where his memory self stood and tried to imagine feeling her touch as she cupped his cheek and kissed him goodbye.

"You remember to write each week, Scorpius," she said. "I love you and am very proud of you." She smiled at him, sadly. "I'll miss you, love," were her last whispered words as the memory him chanted, "Love you, too mother," as he ran off to jump on the train. He was left looking at the teary, proud and yet sad face of his mother wishing he could just feel her arms around him one more time.

The pensieve pulled him up and out and he sat back on the bed, face still drenched in tears. Al looked at him, concerned.

"Scorpius? You alright? Were they not…"

Scorpius threw himself back into Al's arms and hung on to him, shaking. "No, they were brilliant. Thank you."

Luckily, Al seemed to understand what an experience it must have been, because he let Scorpius hang onto him for as long as he needed, quietly supporting him.

After a while, Scorpius sat back, wiping the rest of his tears away, but still sniffling. "I want you to come through and meet my mother," he said proudly to Al.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not MIne, I just like to play with them for a while.

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Author's Note: Here's another chapter. Hope you're enjoying the buys as much as I am writing about them.

Jamie

xxxx

* * *

Scorpius,

I can't wait to get back to school. Things here are worse than before I left for your place.

When the raised voices and arguments don't make things tense and awkward, the strained silences speak louder than anything. It's weird; I always thought mum's shrieking was something to be feared. I used to dread having to stand there and listen to it, and there have been plenty of times James and I had to endure it over some prank or other. But, her silences scare me and make me want the shrieking to start. Least you always know where you stand when she yells. But in the silence, anything can happen. Like yesterday, without warning, she turned and threw a plate at dad. If it hadn't been for his quick reflexes it would have knocked him out I'm sure.

They think we don't notice what's going on, but we do. I'm not sure how much more of this he can take to be honest. And I don't know what all the fuss is about. I don't understand grown ups; they get so…rigid about stuff. Like they're the only ones that can be right and everyone who doesn't agree with them is wrong and stupid and irresponsible and…just plain wrong. I don't know, Scorp, I don't think I want to grow up. Not if it means arguing like those two do.

And they're both as bad as each other. Dad – well I know he's doing the right thing and I'm on his side but he doesn't have to rub her face in it all the time. I'm sure he's provoking her by making a point of telling her all about it every time he goes to see your dad, and I reckon that if he just backed off a bit, she'd not care so much. But then she's got Uncle Ron and that lot on her back all the time, too. And Nana Weasley is as scary as mum when she gets going.

It's Lily I'm worried about. James has had mates to go and stay with and I've been to yours, but Lily's friends have all been away this summer and she's been stuck at home with both of them. Although, someone has been sending her gifts all summer. I'd not even noticed until today when the Owl landed at the breakfast table while there was just her and I still eating. Whoever it is, has my thanks, because the smile that lit up her face when she received it was wonderful. She says that they're just small gifts, Honeydukes chocolates, sweet smelling flowers and such, but they make her smile just because it means someone is thinking of her, she says. She has no idea who it is, but I'm sure she'd love to find out.

A week to go and then back to Hogwarts. Can't wait. Do you remember when we first met and we asked if being friends with each other was going to be a problem because our families were hardly friendly? And I said that it was their problem? It's almost ironical that the problems happening now aren't caused by you and I being friends, but by our fathers being friends. Who'd have thought they'd be the ones causing a rift in my family?

It's still their problem. I'm really proud of my dad for not giving in to them.

Sorry this turned out quite a rambling letter. I'll see you at the station. One week!

Al.

* * *

Al,

Okay, I have a confession to make. I've been sending those gifts to Lily. You mentioned about her not being able to visit friends for the summer, the first week you were home. I just thought that something to look forward to might cheer her up. And if they were anonymous, then she'd have something else to take her mind off what was happening at home.

Besides, last time I was at yours she followed us around and stared at me the whole time. I didn't want her to misinterpret the intention of the gifts, so don't tell her it was me or I'll slip some the Weasley's _Vermilion Vomit_ into your pumpkin juice.

I didn't tell you because I thought you'd think it stupid. Anyway that's where I disappeared to every morning while you were here.

Things haven't changed much here since you left. Father's talking about getting my eyes tested again. He seems to think they're weaker than before. They seem fine to me, but I think he's just making doubly sure that I'm ok. Adjusting to life without mother has been hard for him, and I don't think he would cope well if something happened to me. All the concern makes me uncomfortable, though. I was used to it with mother but father is trying to be both parents and I don't think it suits him. One day the unthinkable will happen and she'll come back to us. We can still hope.

I'm not going to say anything against any member of your family. Yes, I feel guilty that we seem to be the cause of some argument within it, but at the same time, I can't begin to think what our lives would have been like since mum got sick had we not had you and your dad there. So, I have to agree with you. It's their problem. Just know that your friendship is always appreciated. Maybe I don't say it enough. But it is. You're my best friend and I want it to stay that way.

Keep your chin up and you and that prat brother of yours look after Lily for the next week. I'm sure the three of you can think of things to do to get you out of the house for a bit. Take the girl out for ice cream, or we could all meet in Diagon Alley tomorrow if you like. If not, see you in a week!

Scorpius (my name is Scorpius, not Scorp.)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: The boys are now in third year, so getting on for 13 years old now.

Enjoy

jamie

xxx

* * *

Chapter 8.

"Mum! Dad!" Al called out in surprise. "They didn't call you did they?"

"Of course they did, Al," Ginny replied, rushing to her son's bedside and fussing over him as if he were a baby.

"Mu-um, leave off, I'm alright," he protested, disentangling himself from her arms. He loved his mum, he did, but sometimes she smothered him.

"I'm just making sure you're alright, Albus," Ginny responded crossly. "I'll be speaking to the Headmaster about the abominable lack of respect paid to you and…"

"Mum, no, please…" Al said, horrified. "It was just some stupid boys who have nothing better to do than…" he stopped suddenly, not wanting to go into exactly why Davies and his goons had cornered him on the way to his common room last night. His eyes flicked between his mother and his dad, who had been standing there watching the interaction with cool eyes, though Al did notice the sparkle of warmth they showed when he looked at him. No, he really didn't want to spark another argument between his parents. Not here. Not when his mum always seemed unreasonable about his dad and Mr. Malfoy's friendship. "That have nothing better to do," he finished, earning a smile of approval from his father.

"I'm sure the boys responsible will be punished appropriately, Ginny," Harry said, appeasing his wife as he moved to the bed and hugged his son. Al relaxed into the hug from his dad; his dad's hugs were always warm and solid.

Ginny sniffed and ignored Harry. "Well, while I am here I'll go and make sure James and Lily haven't been dragged into this…fiasco," she virtually spat, and Al realised that she knew what had happened and why he'd been beaten. "I can see I'm not needed here." She turned and left the room and Al was hard pressed not to let go a sigh of relief.

"She's really upset, isn't she?" Al asked his dad.

Al thought he heard his dad mutter something that sounded suspiciously like 'she's acting like a cow,' be he couldn't be sure, and besides, his dad wouldn't say that about his mum would he?

'Yes, she is," Harry replied in a normal voice this time, as he sat down on Al's bed. "How about you tell me what happened."

"Nothing much to tell, really," Al responded, blushing. "Davies and his goons got me alone and made some remarks about you and Mr. Malfoy that I took exception to and…well…one thing led to another and before I knew it I was on the ground coughing up blood, with a couple of broken ribs for my trouble. Scorpius and Lily arrived not long after and Scorpius hexed them while Lily ran for a teacher." Al smiled remembering the look on Scorpius' face when he was hexing Davies. "Scorpius was so cool, dad," he beamed.

"I'll bet he was, Al," Harry replied, matching Al's smile. After a moment though, his smile dropped and he became serious again. "You don't need to fight everyone who makes baseless remarks about me and Draco, son."

"I know, dad," Al replied, reaching up to run his hands through his hair. "But they just make me so angry. They know nothing about it and they make up stupid things, like that…that you're sleeping together or something." Al was mortified revealing this to his father, but he thought he had a right to know the sorts of things that people were saying about him and Mr. Malfoy.

Harry was shaking his head. "I don't know where these people come up with such rubbish. Listen, Al, for as long as I've been alive people have been making up stories about me. I've learnt to ignore them. I know the truth, as do you and James and Lily. Even Draco and Scorpius know the truth and as long as we all do then that's all that matters."

Al nodded. "What about mum, though," he said. "What does she believe?"

Harry shrugged. "I've almost stopped caring." Al stared, frowning until Harry caught his eye and slumped. "I'm sorry, I really had no need to say that. You've been such a grown up about all this that I forget you're only thirteen."

"It's alright," Al said, dropping his eyes to the hands in his lap. "Tell me why, then. Why is it so important for you to be friends with Scorpius' dad?"

"For a lot of years after the war, I didn't want to have anything to do with him. As long as he kept to himself then I was happy. But, after a while, maybe ten years ago, I began to see how much he'd changed. How much he'd done to rebuild the Malfoy name – honestly this time. I believe that he learnt a huge lesson in how not to conduct life, from the mistakes that his father made." Harry stood up and poured himself a glass of water from the pitcher by the bed. "Even then there didn't seem to be any reason to befriend him as such. Then you and Scorpius became friends and Serena, his wife, became ill and it just seemed like he needed someone." Harry drank the water and replaced the glass before grinning at Al. "He still likes to think he hates me, you know, but for the past six months, he has had the House-elves prepare lunch for me every day just in case I turn up."

Al laughed. "I know, Scorpius is always telling me about how his dad complains about you in letters to him, but underneath he can see how good you are for him. He really appreciates what you've done for him, dad."

"He's a good friend to you, and I'm very proud of you that you don't let all the talk come between you." He paused. "There is a lot of talk about all this then?" Harry asked, frowning.

For a long moment, Al didn't say anything, but at a long look from his dad, he nodded. "Hugo and Rose are the ones who are the worst. Hugo used to be…well he used to tolerate Scorpius, I guess is the word, but now…he'd as soon spit on him as walk past him. Rose just tends to repeat what Uncle Ron says and it's mostly about Mr. Malfoy and how people don't change no matter how long it's been. It makes me really angry, dad. I know they're family but…sometimes I wish they weren't. Is that bad of me?" Al looked at his dad a little fearfully.

"I can understand the sentiment, but they are family and you need to remember that family stick together."

"No offense, dad, but they haven't been doing much of that lately, have they?"

'Well, they would see it as I haven't been supporting them, so it goes both ways."

"But, you're right, dad. You should be allowed to be friends with whomever you want, without all the arguing."

"I know, son, and that's why I always will choose my friends as I see fit. No one will choose my friends for me. But perhaps I need to explain myself to them much better than I have done. I'll make sure I do. Now, do you think I could join you for breakfast?"

Al nodded, happily. "Yes, that'd be great, dad. I'm allowed to leave this morning anyway."

"Terrific," Harry smiled. "What's on the menu then? Baked beans on toast, I hope?"

"Dad, you hate baked beans on toast."

"Well, no I don't, actually. Your mother made me stop eating them because of…ramifications. It's just easier to say I hate them. But, no more!" Harry announced with a huge grin on his face.

Al laughed and a little knot of worry unwound itself in his stomach. As long as he had his dad and Scorpius he'd be just fine. "Can Scorpius join us?"

"Of course. And whoever else wants to brave the baked beans."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Authors Note: Enjoy, and thank you for all your reviews and PM's I really appreciate that. 

Also, don't ask me about how there are two sets of Patil twins, when you'd think that if the girls both married their twins would go by their husband's surname. We are assuming many things here, haha.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 9. 

"You sitting with us this morning?" Scorpius asked Al as they met outside the great hall just before breakfast.

"Sure, haven't eaten with the swots for a while," he grinned, then ducked as Scorpius tried to thump him.

"One of those swots is your best friend," he scowled.

"He's still a swot," Al joked as they opened the doors and headed in towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Hi Al," two girls simpered and smiled at Al from the Hufflepuff table as they passed.

Al looked confused, but he smiled. "Hi," he replied, but didn't stop. "What was all that about?" he asked when they sat down.

Scorpius shrugged. "Don't know but those Patil twins always do everything together."

"I find those two hard to tell apart," Al said.

"Me too. And if you put them together with their twin cousins, it's even harder. Four Patils and they all look the same. Scary," Scorpius said.

Just then, another two girls sidled past and gave Al big sweet smiles and said hello. Al politely said hello back, but he was now even more confused. "Do I look different or anything? Did I forget to put on trousers or do I have something stuck in my teeth?" Al asked.

Chance leant across the table and winked at Al. "You have no idea do you?"

"What, Smith?" Al said, still perplexed.

"They like you. They want you to ask one of them to the dance."

Al was horrified for a moment. "They do?" he squeaked. He hadn't thought about the dance much. The end of year school dance wasn't anything formal; the headmaster usually decorated the Hall, organised some music and refreshments and they all just turned up. He wasn't aware that people usually _asked_ girls to those things. Well, except for the older years where there were already some couples. He and Scorpius had had fun searching out all the snogging couples hiding in dark alcoves.

He turned to look at Scorpius, who was frowning. "Scorpius? Is he right?"

"Probably," Scorpius replied shortly, then sighed and nodded. "Yes, Al, I think they want you to ask one of them to the dance."

Al ran his hands through his hair. Could he ask one of them to the dance? And what would Scorpius do if he took a girl instead? The last two years they had just turned up together and hung out together.

"Well, what do you think? Should I ask one of them?"

"That's what boys usually do, Al," Scorpius said, a slight sneer on his face.

"But, we usually go together," Al protested. "I…" God, he could be one of those snogging couples that the first years searched out and tormented. Did he even want that?

And worse…if he did, which one should he ask out? How was he supposed to know which were the good ones?

"What will you do if I go with a girl?"

"Probably study," Scorpius shrugged. "Either that or just turn up on my own. I'm quite capable of doing something without you there holding my hand, Potter. Just go and ask the bloody girl will you?"

Scorpius' reaction shocked Al. Why was he so pissy about it?

"Why don't you ask one of them, too?" Al asked.

"A Patil?" Scorpius replied, eyebrow raised, disbelieving.

"Why not?" Al pushed. Them dating the Patil twins seemed fitting. Maybe if he got Scorpius a date too, then he'd not be angry about it anymore.

Scorpius shrugged, not seeming all that interested. "I think I'd prefer to just sit this one out, Al."

"But you have to come, Scorpius! We always go together."

"Well we won't be this year, will we? Albus Potter has a date." Scorpius almost spat it out. Then he stood up and left, leaving Al sitting there completely bewildered.

TBC...


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: Enjoy this one, we start to get a bit angsty from here on in for a little while.

jamie

xxx

* * *

Chapter 10

"Why won't you listen to me?" Al yelled as he chased Scorpius across the Ravenclaw common room. Scorpius almost wished that some of his housemates had come back from breakfast, or were late going. It might mean that Albus wouldn't make a scene if there were people around. But there was no one, and Scorpius really didn't feel like explaining his behavior to Al right now; he barely understood it himself.

All he knew was that he'd all of a sudden become insanely jealous of Al. Or of the attention he was getting or of the fact that he wanted to go to the dance…with a girl... without him. Well, and that was the whole point, he wasn't sure exactly _what _ he was jealous of, so how the hell could he explain it to Al?

He'd seen the simpering girls, seen Al blushing and a rush of anger had crushed his chest and made him want to punch Al in the face. Or the girls. Or Chance. No, maybe not Chance, he'd just happened to be there and had acquainted Al with his appeal to the opposite sex. Yes, so maybe he wanted to punch Chance in the face, too, while he was at it.

Instead he'd beat a dignified, he hoped, retreat and stormed out of the room. But Al had followed him not long after and no matter how much he ignored the insane babbling that was coming from Al's mouth, the git still followed him! And had followed him right up to his common room.

Why couldn't he just leave him alone? At least until he'd had time to sort out why he was so jealous.

"Scorpius! You arsehole stop running away and fucking talk to me!" Al yelled and grabbed Scorpius' arm, forcefully turning him round and making Scorpius lose his footing and stumble, falling directly against Al's chest.

Oh God…

For a moment, a lifetime of a moment, Scorpius stared up at Al, who had caught him and was holding him steady. Al always held him steady, Al always caught him and held him up when he fell. Al whom he loved like a brother…

No, not like a brother…

Scorpius gasped and pushed away. He stood a few paces away from Al who was looking at him expectantly. But Scorpius' heartbeat was beating so hard in his chest it was threatening to break ribs, he was sure, and he could hardly catch his breath.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, horrified. "I don't know…" His eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders sagged. He couldn't, wouldn't agree that this was true. It couldn't be. Al was his _friend_.

"Scorpius," Al said, no longer shouting, speaking softly, instead. "What's wrong?"

Scorpius shook his head, trying to catch his breath and refused to follow his train of thought. It was nothing; it would go away. Away…he had to get away and go somewhere he could agonise over this utterly unwelcome revelation properly and pack it away in a nice safe place never to see the light of day again. But he had to do it without the pressure of Al being there, right beside him.

"I'm sorry, Al, I had no right to get angry. I was…I was jealous that the girls hadn't been looking at me," Scorpius' voice shook and his face was burning with shame, but being thought of as petty was better than being thought of as a flaming p- well, it was better than the alternative.

"You sure? I didn't want them looking at me. I'd thought I'd be going to the dance with you again this year, I hadn't thought of taking a girl, I just – " Al looked at him hopelessly.

Scorpius swallowed. "It's alright. Ask one of them, they obviously want you to and you obviously want to."

"What will you do?"

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll either go on my own or I'll not go at all. I still have a pile of books to read that father dug out of grandfather's old library to help in researching mother's illness."

'It won't be the same without you being there. Please come. Ask one of the other girls, you're not too bad looking for a bloke and I'm sure one of them will do with you." Al was pleading, but Scorpius didn't think he could stand going to the dance, now.

"We'll see," he said, smiling, though he knew it was a pretty weak smile. "I have to go, Al, I need to get a book I forgot," Scorpius said, wanting to leave more than anything else in the world.

"All right, I'll see you in class then," Al said, giving Scorpius a doubtful smile as he left the common room.

Scorpius dropped onto a couch and flung his hands over his face. What the fuck was he supposed to do now?

tbc...


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Poor boys...fancy having to deal with a crush on your best friend when you're only 14 years old.

hehe, I am so evil. Enjoy.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 11.

Traveling to school on the Hogwarts Express never seemed to lose its allure, Al thought as they sped along the track. The trees close to the tracks flashed past at lightning speed and way off in the distance the trees looked like they could be taking a sedate walk in the summer sunshine.

And there seemed to be an extra reason to be glad to come back to school this year. Not only had things deteriorated between his parents to the point that they no longer slept in the same bedroom, but Scorpius had been worryingly quiet over the summer and Al was sure it had something to do with the argument they'd had before the end of year dance.

Nothing had been quite the same after that. Despite Scorpius' insistence that nothing was wrong, there was _something _because Scorpius withdrew from him, and didn't go to the dance at all. Any entreaty on Al's part to engage him in conversation about it was met with a blank refusal to discuss it. And he hadn't even heard form him the entire summer.

He knew this distance between them wasn't as a result of anything to do with Scorpius' mum, either, because his dad had been to see Mr. Malfoy heaps over the summer and Scorpius was always with them when they visited her and her condition hadn't changed, so it was not like he was doing any new research or anything. In fact, he thought Scorpius had almost given up spending every spare hour researching.

So, getting back to school was going to enable Al to sort out what was wrong with Scorpius once and for all. The dance had been fairly unspectacular in any case. His date had looked lovely but they'd had nothing to talk about and Al had ended up bored and wishing Scorpius was there instead.

He sighed and looked around at those in the carriage, thinking that even had there not been some awkwardness between himself and Scorpius that the blond would still have chosen to sit in another carriage. James was off with his friends, but Lily was here, and Rose and Hugo and Al knew that Hugo and Scorpius disliked each other intensely.

He turned his attention back outside, where the sun was still shining and the countryside looked as pretty as a picture. He could always go and look for Scorpius, but he didn't fancy a public rejection. Besides, there was nowhere to talk privately anyway; Scorpius was sure to be in a carriage of his housemates. And even had there been privacy there was no guarantee that Scorpius would even listen, especially seeing as Al tended to get all flustered and forget how to speak when he was stressed.

A note then? But that would look kind of odd him handing his best mate a note; even odder than his best mate not sitting with him for the journey back to school. Bollocks, why didn't he just write the damned note and shove it inside a book and give it to Scorpius pretending he'd borrowed it?

Right then. Al stood up and found quill and parchment in his bag and sat down to write Scorpius a note.

_Scorpius,_

_For some reason you've been avoiding me all summer and no matter what you say, it has something to do with that stupid dance. Look, I hated being there without you. I kept wishing all night that I'd asked you, instead._

_Will you just talk to me?_

_Al. _

Short and to the point, Al nodded to himself. Quickly, he felt around in his bag for a book and pulled out James's old copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages._ It would have to do. He slipped the note inside the front cover and stood. Stepping carefully over the other occupants of the carriage, he went looking for Scorpius, finding him half way down the train, with his Ravenclaw housemates, as he'd expected.

He opened the door and smiled at them all, begging his face not to show how hard his heart was thumping. "Hi, Scorpius," he said, relieved that Scorpius had looked up and smiled at him. Al looked around at the rest of the students in the carriage and smiled hello at them, too.

"Al," Scorpius smiled back.

Al thrust the book forward. "Here, I need to return this to you," he said.

Scorpius took the book, a doubting expression on his face. "Are you sure it's mine?"

Al shrugged and turned to leave when he saw Scorpius begin to open the book. He didn't want to do this in public.

"I'll see you at school then," he said, while Scorpius nodded.

He couldn't get out of there quick enough, and headed back towards his carriage.

He'd almost made it, too, when Scorpius' voice from behind stopped him.

"Potter!"

He turned and saw an angry Scorpius Malfoy closing on him. He blanched a little, wondering why on earth that note had made Scorpius angry.

Scorpius approached him and fisted his hand in Al's shirt, shoving him against the wall with one hand and the other was waving the note in Al's face.

"Is this meant to be a fucking _joke_ Potter?" Scorpius snarled.

"What are you talking about?"

"You 'wished you had asked me, instead' do you? Who have you been talking to?"

"Scorp…I don't…no one. I haven't spoken…what are you talking about?" Al was really confused, now.

Scorpius seemed to deflate, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had risen, apparently. "You really… What did you mean by this note?"

Al could tell that Scorpius was still frustrated or troubled about something.

"Just what I said. I wished I'd never asked that stupid girl and had just done what we'd done previous years and gone together."

"Oh, right," Scorpius nodded, letting Al's shirt go and stepping back. "Sorry. Right then."

"Scorpius, what's wrong?" Al started, hoping that now at least they might settle this.

"Nothing," Scorpius stated and turned to walk back to his carriage. "And don't call me Scorp, you know I hate it," he called over his shoulder as Al attempted to call out to stop him walking away.

Al slumped against the wall. There was something really terribly wrong with their friendship and Al had no idea what or what to do about it, he could only feel a massive ball of hurt in his chest.

tbc


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

A/N: This is still fourth year and runs directly after the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy this little chapter and poor emo Scorpius. 

jamie

* * *

Chapter 12. 

How stupid could one person get, Scorpius chided himself. Imagine thinking Al had actually meant...he wanted…well, to…oh damn him all to hell, now he was unable to string a sentence together either. Was it bloody contagious or something?

Angrily, Scorpius threw himself back on the seat in the carriage and scowled so deeply that none of his housemates dared to speak to him the whole way to Hogwarts. He felt positively awful for treating Al like this; but every time he tried to get past having some…sort of… _feelings_ for him other than friendship he got angry. Well, angry along with a sense of defeat at how unfair everything was. Being Al's best friend was perfect. They both knew where they stood then.

Now…every time he looked at Al's face he wanted to punch him. Or kiss him. Had he been alone, he might have whimpered in horror at that admission. As it was he just grimaced and turned his face to the window and looked out desolately.

This immature behaviour had to stop; he knew that. He'd been dealing with his mother in a coma for two years, he could cope with frantic stupid ridiculous _emotions_ sloshing around in his body making him want things he couldn't have, couldn't he? He was a Malfoy; he was better than surrendering to overactive teenage hormones. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for Al, not anything. And Al would most likely, no definitely, be disgusted at knowing his best friend had a crush on him.

There he'd said it; admitted it in his own head. He, Scorpius Malfoy, had a fucking crush on Albus Potter. Something he had been managing to avoid admitting all summer.

So…

Being Al's best friend was more important than just about anything in his life, with the exception of his parents. Therefore, he had to get over himself and just be Al's best friend.

.o0o.

Arriving at Hogsmeade, he ignored everyone and traveled to the school with a bunch of random third years, then headed straight for the Owlery to send Al a note.

_Al,_

_Meet me in the Astronomy tower for supper?_

_Scorpius._

Waiting for Al to arrive later was agony for Scorpius. What if he didn't show up? He might have made Al so angry that he'd never talk to him again.

He should have known better, though, as Al stepped through the door not a minute later, looking around and smiling hesitantly.

"Scorpius?"

"Al."

"Well, I'm here and I'm not sure why you invited me but it's not for cake, is it?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Sit," he said, indicating the bench beside him. "I wanted to apologise for the way I've been behaving lately," he said when Al had sat down.

Al frowned. "I've been trying to understand what I did wrong, and –"

"You didn't do anything wrong, Al," interrupted Scorpius. "It was me. If I promise not to be an idiot again, can we forget this ever happened?"

He knew he was asking a lot, but telling Al would just keep things awkward.

"Of course." Al smiled. "But you're going to act like a git again at some point. You can't help it, you're blond. And a Malfoy. "

Al was trying to keep a straight face, but failing terribly and Scorpius let the corners of his mouth curl up and, astoundingly, he was smiling and then laughing along with Al. Then he found himself being pulled into strong arms for a hug. His laughter almost turned to tears then.

"Whatever it was, you can tell me, you know," said Al after a while.

"I know," replied Scorpius. "And one day, I might, just not now. Can you trust me?"

"Of course, Scorpius. You're my best friend."

Scorpius sighed and pulled away from the hug, smiling. It was enough. It would have to be.

tbc


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's note: Have fun! And thank you all for the reviews, I love hearing what you think of my little story!.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 13

4th year.

"You're all talk and no action, Potter," Davies said, addressing Al with a sneer.

"No idea _what _you're on about, Davies," Al retorted.

"You strut around this school like you think you own it, and yet when Samuels dared you to do something yesterday, you chickened out, like the big girl you are."

Al saw red. Davies was really pushing this school rivalry thing too far. He supposed that at least this time, Davies' vitriol was directed at him and not Scorpius, but it didn't make all _that _much difference. He narrowed his eyes and hissed.

"I refused to do that dare because it's breaking about fifty school rules, not to mention, it's bloody dangerous."

Scorpius was beside him, staying silent this time; he'd expected his best friend to remind him that Davies was just goading him into something by insulting him, but Scorpius just stood there, solid as a rock beside him.

'Your father did it in his second year. And he went down there to fight a basilisk. All you have to do is go down there and bring back some shed skin from that monster. It's not even alive, Potter."

Al doubted that the little Parseltongue his dad had taught him would be enough to even get the Chamber of Secrets to open, but he was too angry at Davies' insulting words to worry about that now.

"Fine," he snarled.

"I'm coming down with you," Scorpius whispered as they entered Myrtle's bathroom later that night. They'd opted to go at night, as there'd be fewer people around that might think to come into this bathroom. Whilst it was still a disused bathroom, in deference to Moaning Myrtle, it was still functioning and more than once had helped a caught out student.

"Sshh! She'll hear you!" Al admonished, also in a whisper. He didn't want to attract her attention, because Myrtle had a tendency to reminisce about how she had liked his dad and how he would come and see her, sometimes with that blond boy that cried a lot. There were so many more interesting things he could be doing than listening to Moaning Myrtle moan about his dad and some mysterious crying blond. "And you don't need to come with me, I can do this on my own."

"If you think I'm letting you go down there without me, Albus Potter, then you can just damned well think again."

Al gave in gracefully. Truth be told, he'd rather not go down there alone. That was assuming he could open the Chamber in the first place.

They found the sink that had the snake scratched out over one of the taps, which identified it as the entrance and, not wanting to waste any time, he hissed the well practiced words, hoping to get them right, but not expecting anything to happen.

Nothing did.

"Damn."

"Try again," Scorpius said. "Don't give up. Maybe it's just not been opened for a while and is a bit rusty," he said, doubtfully.

Al tried again, this time making the hissing noises louder.

Then the tap glowed and the sink dropped down and disappeared, leaving the entrance wide open.

"You did it!" Scorpius exclaimed, excited.

Al was shocked more than anything else. "You got my broom?"

Scorpius nodded and patted his pocket. They'd need that to get back out.

Al took a deep breath and climbed onto the edge of the pipe. "Well here we go!" He was sure his voice hadn't trembled. He wasn't anxious or worried or maybe even frightened. Scorpius was with him anyway - nothing was going to happen.

Letting go of the edge was hard but he did it, and took off sliding down a long dark tunnel. Down and down he slid, hearing Scorpius behind him screeching in excitement. Had that boy no fear? Eventually, he shot out the end and landed on a stone floor, remembering to move out of the way so Scorpius wouldn't land on top of him.

"Disgusting!" said Scorpius, scrunching up his nose at the slimy walls when he'd picked himself up off the floor. "But the ride down was amazing! Imagine how much fun that would be if it was clean, Al!"

"Yeah," Al breathed, finally relaxing a little and catching on to Scorpius' excitement. "Come on, lets go find the Basilisk skin and get that prat Davies his trophy."

They set off up the tunnel, their footsteps loud in the deathly silence. Up ahead they could see a pile of fallen rock and Al remembered that his dad said that was where him and Uncle Ron had got separated and he'd had to go on alone. There was a hole through it now and he and Scorpius climbed through and continued along tunnel after tunnel until they came to a wall, where, set into the rock was two snakes whose gleaming emerald eyes seemed to watch them.

"Your dad must have been so brave to come down here all by himself to rescue Mrs. Potter," Scorpius breathed.

"Yeah." Al raised his lit wand and let the light wash over the wall, accentuating the snakes. He concentrated and spoke the command again, sounds like hissing coming from his mouth. Shocked, he saw the walls spilt apart and open, leaving them clear to enter the Chamber of Secrets.

Al heard Scorpius' breath catch when he saw the cavernous expanse of the chamber. There were tall pillars rising lost into the darkness, snakes twined all around them and numerous tunnels heading off in every direction. Albus looked at it in awe and tried to imagine a twelve year old Harry Potter down here.

As he took it all in, he saw a great shape to one side. Quite breathless with a mix of awe and trepidation, he approached it to find the skeleton of the long dead basilisk that his father had killed. It had decomposed to the point that the bones were holding parts of the skin still intact, but there was so substance to it, just decaying matter faintly scaled.

"Al, this place is incredible! How could your dad have gone up against that," he pointed to the remains of the Basilisk "with only the sword of Gryffindor?"

"He had a Phoenix, too, but it seems pretty hard to believe doesn't it? He must have loved her even then," Al mused. Perhaps he could remind his mum and dad of that and they'd stop fighting.

"I'm sure he did," Scorpius said softly, and Al was sure he could hear some wistfulness in that agreement. Scorpius walked off to have a look around the chamber, while Al pulled clear a section of the scaly snake's skin, gone dry and brittle with age. He cast a stasis spell on it so that it wouldn't disintegrate any further and put it in a bag in his knapsack.

"Al! Come quickly," Scorpius yelled. Al rushed to his best friend's side and looked to where he was pointing.

There on the ground were the remains of what looked to be a huge egg.

"You don't think…" Al said, looking worriedly into Scorpius' face.

Scorpius shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not."

"I don't care, I don't like it down here, any more. Let's go." Al grabbed hold of Scorpius' wrist and dragged him away quickly, not letting go until they reached the bottom of the slide and Scorpius had to enlarge the broom so they could exit.

"You all right?" he asked when he looked at Scorpius and found he was pink and flushed.

Scorpius nodded. "Just the adrenaline of being down here, I guess," he said, unshrinking the broom and handing it to Al. Scorpius climbed on the back of the broom behind Al, slipped his arms around Al's waist and hung on.

"Right, lets go and rub this skin in Davies' face," said Al, exultant now he'd faced the challenge and defeated it.

tbc


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Oooh, we're getting up there. They boys are now in 5th year and Scorpius has been dealing with his crush for months, building up his walls to hide it behind. Is it all about to fall down around his ears?

Have fun

jamie

xxx

ps, reviews are love, darlings. smooches

* * *

5th year.

There was only one thing for it, really, Scorpius decided. He needed to find a girlfriend. Yesterday's discussion with Chance and the off the cuff comment he'd made, which Scorpius was sure wasn't as accidental as Chance had made it seem, highlighted that maybe he wasn't being as subtle as he'd hoped.

For months now, he'd been positive he'd disciplined himself well enough to cover any tell tale indications that what he felt for Albus went beyond what was expected of best friends. Chance had blown that out of the water with a significant look. Whether it had been deliberate or accidental, as a warning it had been effective and Scorpius had left the conversation feeling horrifically exposed and vulnerable.

Besides, he was going to be 15 soon; it was time for a girlfriend. His only problem was, that he wasn't attracted to any of the girls in school. Ever since he'd started at Hogwarts his attention had really only ever been focused on one person and that person was unattainable.

As he sat with the Slytherins for breakfast, Al warm and solid beside him, he looked out across the Great Hall. Particularly at the girls. They were nice; there was nothing wrong with any of them; with the possible exception of Miranda Nott who looked like a troll. And Rose Weasley who hated him. She was a Weasley in any case and his father would probably kill him if he went out with a Weasley.

"Pass the bacon?" Al nudged Scorpius, who blinked and picked up the tray of bacon for him.

"Who do you think I should ask to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Scorpius asked, deciding to talk it over with Al and maybe get some advice.

Al, who was in the process of sticking his fork into rashers of bacon, paused and looked at Scorpius. "You want to do on a date?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Yes, why not? I'm almost fifteen, I should have a girlfriend."

Al laughed shortly, finally spearing some bacon. "What's bought this on? You've not been interested in girls before."

"Nothing," Scorpius said, affronted, dropping the tray back on the table a little more deliberately than he'd planned. "Who says I've not been interested in girls before?"

"You've not asked anyone out before, and you've never even mentioned liking anyone!" Al exclaimed.

"Well, all the more reason to start now, wouldn't you say?" Scorpius replied, lifting his chin defiantly.

Al looked at him seriously for a moment and then smiled. "If you say so. Now, what about –"

Whatever Al had been about to say was cut off when a whirlwind in the form of Lily Potter descended on their table.

"Hello, you two," she beamed at them both, dragging a huge bowl of scrambled eggs towards her.

"Morning, Lils, what are you doing eating at this table?"

"Not happy to see me, big brother? Can't a girl have breakfast with her two favourite men once in a while?" Obviously, Lily had overcome her habit of just staring at Scorpius.

"Of course you can, you just generally don't that's all," Al replied.

Lily shrugged and kept piling mounds of egg onto her plate. "Just had Quidditch training and bloody James is pushing us like a madman. Dad used to go on about how Oliver Wood was the hardest training captain he'd ever played under. Well, I reckon James would give him a run for his money."

Scorpius loved to fly and he flew well, but he'd never even considered trying out for the team so he had no idea how his own House trained, let alone Gryffindor. Though they must have had a really strenuous work out if the pile of eggs on Lily's plate was anything to go by.

"Are you sure you can eat that huge pile of eggs?" he asked her, grinning.

She nodded and down at the pile. "Well, it's not really that big, is it?"

"Yeah, it is," Al laughed. "You'll get too heavy for your broom if you keep eating meals that size."

Lily blushed. "It was an accident," she said. "I didn't mean to give myself that much. I wasn't thinking. "

"Ah well, don't worry, I like a girl with a big appetite," he said to make her feel better.

Her face brightened. "Oh, good. See, that's what I was thinking about when I came over here. Well, not my big appetite." She blushed again and sighed, taking a deep breath. "What I mean is, I wanted to ask you if you'd come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow. Will you?"

Scorpius could see Al's stunned face from the corner of his eye. His own face was probably just as astounded. Lily was sitting there; uneaten eggs piled high on her plate and a forlorn, yet hopeful smile on her face. How could he say no?

He nodded and she stood up, letting out a big whooshing breath and giving him a huge smile. "Meet you here at 10, then. Bye." She skipped off, back to her friends who'd obviously been waiting for the outcome and were now all giggling and looking at him.

This could only end badly.

tbc


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Note: I love Lily Potter. 

Still 5th year.

Enjoy

jamie

xxx

* * *

Chapter 15. 

"What was that all about?" Al said, after several silent minutes, when even the other people at the table refrained from uttering a word.

Scorpius turned to look at him, returning his blank, though completely stunned expression. "I have no idea."

"I don't want you dating my sister. It feels all wrong, somehow." There was a faint frown on Al's face that Scorpius would have done anything to be able to smooth over, so he quickly moved to reassure Al.

"Oh, no! I don't _want_ to date your sister!"

Instead of disappearing, the face went blank for a moment and then frowned deeper.

"Are you saying she's not good enough to date?"

"Al," Scorpius said, annoyed. "Of course not. Anyone would be happy to date her. She's…she's nice!"

"So, why don't you want to date her?" Al said, frowning and glaring at Scorpius who was groaning inside because he'd known this would get messy. It wasn't as if he could say, "I want to date you, instead," now, could he?

And now he was in a real bind, trying to find a way to say something and not offend Al. "Because I don't want to date anyone this year," he said, suddenly remembering that OWLS were this year. "I'm going to be way too busy studying to even think about girls," he said, warming to his subject. "And you should be, too."

Al deflated and a sheepish smile transformed his face. "Right. Sorry about that."

"It's all right. It's only a trip to Hogsmeade, anyway. Why don't you come, too?" Scorpius said, internally begging Al to agree to come along. He liked Lily, he did; she was Al's sister, but the prospect of a whole afternoon being alone with her frightened the hell out of him.

Al nodded. Scorpius thought he have him a funny look, but put it down to the strangeness of the situation.

* * *

"Lily," Scorpius called, running after her later that day. "Wait up I'll walk with you to lunch."

He'd told Al he had some things to do and would meet him there because he wanted to speak with Lily and ask why she'd asked him out, and also to make sure there were no misunderstandings. They were, and would remain, friends.

Lily turned and smiled at him, linking her arm with his when he arrived beside her.

"Hello, Scorpius," she smiled. "Coming to plan our date on Saturday?"

"Er…not exactly," he said, suddenly flustered and feeling twelve years old again. _Anyone_ could see them! "I wanted to know why you asked me."

"Oh," she said, giving him a small grin. "I was doing you a favour, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I asked you to put a stop to all the rumours, silly," she said nudging him with her elbow. Scorpius looked confused.

"What rumours?"

"You know. The ones about you and Al. Personally, I think that it would be hot, if it weren't for the fact that we're talking about my brother, here. Any other boy and I'd be asking you if I could watch."

Scorpius stopped dead in the middle of the corridor. He'd gone pale, all the blood seeming to head right down to his feet through his knees, which appeared to have weakened from the sudden shock.

"You alright, Scorpius?" Lily asked, her concerned face looking at him closely.

"You know better than to believe rumours, Lily," Scorpius croaked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "There's always an ounce of truth in every rumour, you know." She took his arm again. "I don't _mind_. Honestly, you've been all he ever talks about for as long as he's been coming to Hogwarts. And the two of you are never apart. It's only natural people will put two and two together."

"Lily, there is nothing going on! God, don't tell me Al knows about these rumours?"

"I have no idea. He's not mentioned them to me, but then I am only his sister."

Scorpius was silent then for several moments while he tried to absorb the shock. After a while, he took a breath and looked back at Lily. "Do me a favour?"

"Of course," she replied, smiling.

"Don't tell Al about the rumours?"

"I won't. Your secret is safe with me," she said putting a finger on her lips.

"There is no secret, Lily. Your brother and I are not… we're not…"

"Whatever," Lily said, laughing. "You can just ask me out for a date whenever you need."

"Why would you do this?" Scorpius asked.

"Because I love my brother. Plus, I want to thumb my nose at James, who still thinks you're a prat."

"Nothing to do with the fact that your mum would sooner hex me than speak to me?"

'That, too," Lily confirmed with an impish grin. "Now, Mr. Malfoy. Take me into the Hall for lunch or I shall perish from starvation and what a poor sort of boyfriend that would make you."

Scorpius laughed. He really did like Lily Potter.

tbc


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's notes: I am so evil. MUAHAHAHAHAHA

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 16.

5th year.

Davies' smug face floated in front of Al and if he'd been able to think straight, he would have sworn he needed glasses, because Davies' face looked rather hazy.

But then Al was trying desperately to rein in his temper, so he was in no fit state to swear to anything, although he had let a few swear words explode from his disbelieving mouth when Davies had started saying all those _terrible_ things about, well, about Al and Lily and Scorpius and how Malfoys and Potters of more than one generation might be becoming too inbred, what with the way they swapped partners all the time.

No, he rather thought it might be the rage and the utter humiliation that he was feeling that was disturbing his vision and he was on the verge of punching that piggy smug look right out of those mocking brown eyes, but Professor Brown walked up behind Davies.

"Albus Potter, Aaron Davies, what seems to be the problem here?" she asked.

Al thought seeing she was the Divination Professor, she should already know, but he was smart enough not to say that aloud.

"Nothing Professor," he replied, just as Davies opened his mouth, probably to tell.

"Good. It seems that I arrived in time, then. Get a move on now, you don't want to be late for class."

Al scowled at Davies.

'Yes, ma'am," he said and moved away, thinking furiously about why people had to talk and make up rubbish. He was used to the ones about his dad and Mr. Malfoy by now and there wasn't any more truth to them now than there was years ago when they started. No, he was more concerned about the other comment Davies made.

He'd said. "Like father, like son," and laughed. Well, not laughed exactly, because that was not even remotely funny. More like snickered.

As Al stomped into class, he avoided all his classmates' stares, knowing he probably looked like an electrified porcupine; the hair that was so like his dads was probably standing up all over the place again, like it generally did when he got mad. Most of his housemates tended to steer clear of him when it did that. He'd asked his dad why it went like that and he'd shrugged and said that it must have something to do with the way his magic crackled around him when he lost control of his temper.

He tossed his bag onto the floor and slumped down into his chair. He'd have to think about what to do about these stupid rumours. He had nothing against people who were gay; in fact he'd surprised himself once by wondering what it would be like to kiss a boy. It was just normal curiosity, his dad had told him, so he hadn't worried too much about it. He'd never even thought of using Scorpius to satisfy his curiosity like that. Not his best friend. Maybe that was what was making him so angry about these rumours. Apart from the fact that they weren't true, that is.

One thing was for sure; he'd not tell Scorpius about them; it would only hurt his feelings.

.o0o.

"Just where I thought you'd be," Al said, slipping into the chair beside Scorpius in the Library a few hours later.

"Well, I have homework, Al," Scorpius said, not even turning from the Arithmancy homework he had in front of him.

"What are you working on?"

"Arithmancy," Scorpius replied.

Al turned his nose up. "You caught up with Lily yet?" he asked casually.

"Yes, I did. We're still going to Hogsmeade, if that was your next question," Scorpius stated, turning to look at him.

"No, no that's quite all right. Actually, I think it's a terrific idea that you date my sister."

Scorpius' mouth dropped open. "What's bought this on, then?"

Al shrugged. "I just think she'll be safer with you than with some of the other idiots, that's all."

For some reason Al didn't understand that seemed to make Scorpius upset. "Why am I safer, Al?" It sounded like Scorpius had his jaw firmly clenched.

"Because…" Al started and then stopped, wondering why he'd assumed Scorpius would be safer than any of the other blokes. He really looked at Scorpius then, took in the fine blond hair that tended to fluff when it got damp, the grey eyes that darkened when Scorpius felt really deeply about something and the way they lit up when he smiled. "Because, you're the nicest bloke I know and my sister deserves the best."

Scorpius relaxed then, which relieved Al. He didn't want his best mate angry or upset with him.

"And in the spirit of friendship, just so you don't have to feel awkward with me there on Saturday, I asked a someone, too. Peri Patil is coming with us." Al grinned. That should stop those ugly rumours. "That way I don't have to watch you two snogging." He scrunched up his nose at the thought of Scorpius snogging his sister.

Scorpius just looked at Al for a long moment. Al was just about to ask why because he couldn't quite understand the expression on his best friend's face, but Scorpius smiled faintly, then turned back to his homework. "Good."

tbc


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's notes: I am an evil woman. I keep saying that but it keeps being true. heh. Enjoy.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 17

6th year.

"I'm not sure I'm too happy about you dating my sister," James said, looking at both of them, the frown on his face in danger of becoming a real scowl. Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, but left his arm across the back of Lily's shoulders where it looked almost platonic, deliberately.

"Cut it out, James," Lily replied, sounding irritated. "We've been seeing each other for months now and last time I checked you had no say in who I dated."

"You're my little sister and I have to look after you and that means I get to say who you associate with," James retorted, the frown having become a full-blown scowl of anger. "It's bad enough this Malfoy has clung on to Albus since their first day at Hogwarts, but I'll not have him influencing you as well. Mum was right, the whole family are nothing but arrogant leeches, clinging to the Potter name for some advantage."

"Now, hang on," Scorpius started, indignant, but Lily interrupted him.

"How dare you! Firstly, you have no say in who I see and who I don't as I am quite capable of looking after myself and secondly, I do not need to justify my decision to date Scorpius to anyone, least of all a narrow minded bigoted fool like yourself. Scorpius is a decent boy, James, not that you'd know that, having instead decided to base your judgment on what someone else says and not on any first hand knowledge. Honestly, you're as bad as mum. She can't move past the war, either."

"I know enough. I see how he has Albus wrapped around his little finger. Just about every word out of Al's mouth for years has had something to do with him." James pointed a finger at Scorpius and spat his words with such venom that Scorpius thought he might actually feel the sting of a bite.

"That might be because they're friends, you imbecile!" Scorpius could see that Lily was getting really angry as her face had darkened and her eyes flashed dangerously. He had a sudden stomach-clenching vision of Lily revealing the truth and letting slip that Scorpius had a crush on Al. He had to get her out of this argument, somehow. Before the whole horrible truth came out.

"Oh, look, my coffee's gone cold. Come and help me make a new one, Lily?"

But she ignored him.

"Are you jealous because you no longer have your little brother to kick around?"

"That's…that's utterly ridiculous." James stammered over the words, though, and Scorpius wasn't sure if Lily had hit close to home with that dig, or if she was so far off the mark that even James hadn't considered it. Lily pressed on, not giving James a chance to recover.

"Look, I like Scorpius, and if I want to date him, then I will." Lily's defiant glare was one that he'd never seen anyone argue with. He wondered which of her parents she inherited that from. "Al's happy that we're dating, so obviously he thinks Scorpius will look after me and, regardless of what you think, I will continue to date him for as long as I want, or until..." Lily stopped and turned her eyes on him and he could just follow her train of thought, 'until my stupid brother realises that he wants Scorpius for himself'. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand, grateful beyond words for her support. "Who knows, James," she continued, still looking at Scorpius, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "We might even get married. Perhaps as soon as I come of age we might elope."

Scorpius held his breath, thinking that Lily might have pushed things too far this time.

"Mum would never allow that," James said and Scorpius thought he sounded smug.

"I said, elope, James, I didn't say, ask permission." Lily laughed and rested back on the couch. Scorpius kept hoping that someone would come in and interrupt them, but Mr. and Mrs. Potter were out for dinner – some romantic Valentine's Day meal - and Al had accepted an invitation for dinner with Peri's family, so there was no one to save him from this excruciatingly embarrassing family tiff. He wished that they'd never been allowed to come home for this weekend and were instead back at school where he had the comparative safety of the Ravenclaw common room to hide in.

He'd really had fun the months he'd been dating Lily and Al had been dating Peri, though it had not been without its bitter moments and heartbreaking jealousy. Like whenever he saw Al kissing Peri, or each time she took Al away from time they'd normally have spent together, studying or just hanging out. He'd been so grateful to have Lily to talk to they'd become very close.

And it was for that reason he had to let her go. She deserved to find someone that really would look after her; someone that adored every little thing about her and someone that her family approved of. If they continued dating; if Scorpius continued to monopolise Lily's time, then she'd never find that special someone.

He stood up, leaving the two of them to argue with each other, and took his cold coffee to the kitchen, where he dropped the cup in the sink for washing. It was Valentine's Day and he was overcome by a sudden sadness. Not that he went in for all the flowers and chocolates and soppy romantic poetry or anything, but the day seemed designed to ensure you thought there was something wrong with you if you weren't involved in some great passionate romance. The flowers he'd given Lily earlier in the evening were still sitting proudly in a pretty vase on the sideboard, Lily having said she would take them to her room later, after she'd had the chance to show them off to everyone. He was glad she liked them, but it was a pretty, bright posey such that friends would give each other, not lovers.

He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, thinking it was time he went home, anyway. Just as he turned to head back to the lounge, both Lily and James ran into the kitchen, voices urgent.

"Scorpius, come quick. Your dad's firecalling," James said, beckoning him. Lily ran to his side and took him by the wrist.

"It's about your mum, hurry up!"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: I really want to thank everyone for their lovely reviews and support writing this story. Seeing as it's such a new pairing I always thought no one would read it, but I've been really pleasantly surprised and ILU all for it!

Enjoy this lovely little cliffie! Mwahahahahaha

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 18.

6th year.

The wait was interminable. Scorpius shifted in his chair, pushing his glasses back up on his face and giving an irritated sigh. "How long are they going to keep us out here?" he asked.

"Until they've finished with her," Draco replied, sounding just as tense and annoyed. Scorpius could understand that; they'd been sitting out here for the better part of three hours and still they'd had no word from the Healers other than she'd moved slightly on her own.

"They could at least let us sit in the room so we can watch her."

After so long with no news it was frustrating to be so close to having his mother back and yet still so far away. Even so, he was filled with an elation he had trouble comparing to anything he'd ever felt before. It left him feeling jittery and like he wanted to jump out of his skin.

"I know, son, we'll just have to wait, though. But if they don't let us in soon, I'll insist upon it. They can't keep us away forever, it's just not right."

"Draco!" A voice called from down the corridor. Scorpius looked up and saw Al and Lily and Mr. Potter walking down the corridor. Scorpius knew his face broke out in a huge grin when he saw Al and seeing Al's look of worry dissolve at the grin almost drowned out the groan his father made at seeing Al's dad.

"Potter, what are you doing here?" Scorpius could tell his dad really wasn't unhappy that Mr. Potter was here, though, no matter how much he protested.

Lily walked up to him and gave him a hug. "When we didn't hear anything, we became worried. Al begged dad to bring us and see how you were. We're sorry if we're intruding," she said.

Scorpius returned her hug and let his dad answer. "They told us she'd moved on her own, but they haven't given us any more news yet. It's so frustrating I could kick something. Can't you make use of that name of yours and go make them let us in, Potter?"

Mr. Potter laughed, shortly. "Sure," he said in a way that indicated that he wasn't going to.

Scorpius released Lily and looked at Al. Seeing Al here, ready to support him as he'd always done, had Scorpius fighting to dampen a swell of emotion that rose and threatened to make him jump out of his skin.

Instead, he said, "Thanks for coming," before he found himself with an armful of his best friend. For a moment, just a tiny moment, Scorpius clung to Al and buried his face in Al's shoulder.

"I was concerned for you when we didn't hear anything," Al whispered into his neck. "We thought maybe she'd died."

Scorpius pulled back, reluctantly, though he was smiling broadly. "She's going to be all right," he said. He was so glad to have Al right here beside him, because he would never forget all that Al had done helping him research his mother's condition. Even though it had been a fruitless search, Al had been staunch in helping Scorpius in any way he could. "She's moving on her own and once they've done some tests, they'll let us in to see her."

"That's brilliant, I'm so happy for you," Al said. Scorpius suddenly realised that they were still holding each other, but he didn't care. His mother was going to come back to them and he was so happy he didn't care if his feelings for Al showed on his face for the entire world to see. He had the perfect denial available to him.

An official sounding voice came from the direction of his mother's room. "Mr. Malfoy, you and your son may come and see your wife now. She is awake but very confused."

Scorpius' eyes widened and his heart expanded as he looked into Al's eyes, seeing the joy reflected in them. It was really happening. His mum was awake!

"Go and see your mum, Scorpius," Al urged.

Scorpius grinned and before he could even think of what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed Al full on the lips.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: giggles Poor Al, so confuzzled. But Lily is awesome, even if she managed to take over when I wasn't ready for her to. Oh well...

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

No one said a word after Scorpius and Mr. Malfoy left. Al certainly had no idea what to say – he couldn't even think straight enough to know what to feel. Only that Scorpius had kissed him and he didn't know why.

"Well, I think we should head home, kids," his dad said. "I don't think they'll be out any time soon, and I suspect that they won't be allowing visitors for quite some time."

Al nodded and turned to head home, only to find himself face to face with Lily. He blanched. God, Scorpius was her boyfriend! She was going to hate him! He quickly scrubbed his mouth and thanked Merlin that he'd been too shocked to kiss back. _What_? He wouldn't have kissed back even had he not been shocked, no certainly not. He had a girlfriend! He'd just play it cool and pretend like nothing happened.

"That's such great news about Scorpius' mum, isn't it?" he said, putting on a big smile that was as much put on as real, because he really was happy for Scorpius.

"Yes, it is," Lily responded, regarding Al carefully.

Well she didn't _look_ too angry with him. Perhaps it was Scorpius she was mad at? It had been him that kissed Al, after all.

"Yes, and perhaps he got a little exuberant in his excitement. Would that be right, Al?" his dad asked, looking between the two of them.

"That'd be it, yeah," Al replied, blushing at the oblique reference to the kiss.

"Unless there's something you want to tell me?"

"What's to tell?" Al asked, frowning. "What?" he tried again when neither of them said anything and just stood there staring at him. "What do you want from me?"

"The truth, for a start," Lily replied, arms folded. Oh, bloody hell, she really was angry, after all. "What are your feelings for him?"

"He's my best friend, Lil," Al almost shouted in protest. "That's it! I wouldn't go behind your back, not to mention my girlfriend's back, I wouldn't."

Lily looked between Harry and Al and shook her head. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure you hated it," she said and walked off towards the exit.

His dad gave Al another weird look, which he shrugged off and followed his sister, the reason he felt so guilty suddenly becoming clear in his head – he hadn't hated it.

.o0o.

Over the next several days, every time he tried to corner Lily in the halls between classes she escaped him with excuses of having to hurry to class, or she arranged her schedule so that she avoided him somehow. Al was becoming frustrated and even enlisting the help of Rose proved useless. Rose flatly refused to give him the password to the Gryffindor common room and so once Lily had entered there was no way for him to get to her.

And Scorpius hadn't returned to school, either. Though he expected that; seeing as his mother had been in a coma for years, he imaged they'd have a lot to catch up on. Besides, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do about that kiss, anyway. The time and space away from Scorpius was welcomed in a way.

But he really wanted to talk with Lily and make sure that she knew there was nothing in that kiss, just Scorpius being too excited about seeing his mum, and he'd probably aimed for Al's cheek anyway and just missed. No big deal, right?

It took bribing a first year to tell Lily that Scorpius had returned and wanted to see her, before he could corner her long enough to make her listen. Even then she kept trying to run away, which surprised Al because Lily was not the type of girl to run away from anything.

"Lily! Stop it, please and just listen to me!" he said, exasperated and hanging on to her arm.

"I don't need to listen to you, Al. I don't care that he kissed you."

"Why not? Do you have that sort of relationship where you can both just run around and kiss whoever you like?"

"No of course not. It's just…" Lily stopped and bit her lip, then shook her head and tried to break away from Al again.

"It's just what?" Al asked, tightening his grip. "Come on, Lil, I don't want you to be angry with me. The kiss meant nothing, I'm sure. It was just heat of the moment stuff."

"Oh, you…" Lily was frustrated, Al could see that much. "If it was heat of the moment or an expression of the joy he was feeling, then why didn't he kiss me? I'm supposedly his girlfriend, aren't I?"

"Well, yeah…" Al frowned. "But I think it was just that they told him she was awake while I was hugging him. That's all, it was just coincidence."

"Oh, Al." Lily shook his arm off roughly. "You are such an idiot! If he cared for me at all like that, I would have been the first person he looked for, but I wasn't. It was you, all right? You are always the only thing he sees." Lily's voice had become tired sounding and Al thought she sounded defeated. "You are the first person he looks for when he enters a room and if you're there he lights up like a Christmas tree."

Al stood there, confused by what she was saying. "But we're best friends, that's all it is," he protested weakly.

"Whatever," Lily replied, resignedly as she walked off. "Whatever you do, don't hurt him. He deserves better than that."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, how many were waiting for Scorpius' thought on why he kissed Al? Well, here it is. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Scorpius knew it would be weeks before he would feel able to leave his mother and return to school. In the meantime, she'd been tested every which way the Healers could think of in an effort to find out why she'd been in a coma so long and no one had any answers. Eventually, a week later, they let her return home, after obtaining promises from her to continue with physical therapy to build up her muscles again.

They weighed her down with canes and walking braces and spells designed to support her skeleton while she rebuilt her muscles. Scorpius didn't mind helping out, he was just so glad to have her back that he would gladly have spent every second of the day making sure she became strong and healthy again. There didn't seem to be any cognitive damage from the prolonged coma, although she did manage to lose her walking cane just about every day and was constantly asking the House-elves where they'd hidden it. Scorpius suggested to his dad that they have a cane in each room at all times so she need never be without one. After that, peace reigned. Over the issue of walking canes, anyway.

Scorpius tried not to dwell on the fact that he'd kissed Al. Tried, but hadn't succeeded very well. If at any time he'd ever thought that kissing the boy he had a crush on would kill the crush once and for all, those thoughts had been proved wrong. His feelings were stronger than ever now he knew what those lips felt like against his own.

The problem was, he had no idea what to say to Al. Did he brush it off as a spur of the moment thing because he was so happy about his mother? Did he confess and admit to Al he'd had a crush on him since fourth year and risk losing his best friend? He worried as to just what the best thing to do was.

Then a letter came from Lily a couple of days after his mother came home with them that threw all his thinking into chaos.

_Scorpius,_

_Not so smart making a move on my brother right in front of me and my dad. Of course, Al, being his usual stupid self thought you were just aiming for his cheek in a sudden rash of excitement about seeing your mum. While you and I both know that's not true, Al was more concerned about you cheating on me, than he was about the kiss._

_Was being the operative word here._

_Look, regardless of what happens with you and Al, I think we need to break up. I really like you Scorpius and I've had fun with you, but I think our time deceiving everyone has to end. There is someone I like, that I think I'd like to date and, well, I can't if I'm going out with you._

_Besides, I really want to see you and my brother together. Call me evil, call me deviant for thinking that watching the two of you together would be hot – even if he is my brother – if you like, but, you know, I really don't think he's as averse to the idea as you might think. He certainly wasn't acting like that kiss revolted him and…_

_Bugger, now don't hate me or anything, but I kind of told Al how you feel about him. Damn, I hate doing this in a letter. Al was pestering me, trying to apologise for the kiss and attempting to make sure that I knew it meant nothing and was probably a mistake. It frustrated me that the two boys I care about most in the world (apart from James who is a bit of a dick but my brother so I have to love him) are too stupid to sort this out for themselves. Admit it, you would have cheerfully let this slide and remained as Al's best friend, forever pining and yearning for something you thought you couldn't have._

_Now, well, now you can do something about it, because when I told him that you usually only ever have eyes for him and when he enters a room your face lights up, he wasn't disgusted. Of course, he's so thick at times he might need another whack over the head just to make sure it sunk in._

_So, hate me or forgive me, but use the opportunity, damn you. I'm tired of this shit._

_Lily_

_Ps. I am so glad your mum is doing so well. _

_Lily,_

_I think I'm so shocked I can't find the words._

_I don't hate you. I think if I were honest, I knew things would some day come to a head. Perhaps I was asking for it spontaneously kissing Al like that. Maybe I've grown tired of this shit, too, as you put it._

_What will I do if he can't be my best friend anymore? I can take him not being interested in anything more but losing my best friend? Lil if there was anything I might be mad at you for, it's putting that in danger. He's been my rock for so long, with mother and everything. If I lose that…_

_My dad would go back to despising your dad with every molecule in his body and not just put on a show about it. Hah._

_Anyway, in case I don't get a chance to say thank you for being my girlfriend these past months, thank you. If things had been different, I think I really could have gone for a girl like you. I hope whoever this person is that you like is worth you, Lily Potter. You tell him (or her) from me that if they hurt you in any way, they'll have a very angry Ravenclaw on their hands. One who is clever enough to have scoured all the books in the library for the most vile hexes imaginable and powerful enough to cast them without a second thought._

_Scorpius._

_PS. If you want to break up publicly, feel free to kick me or yell at me or something._


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Authors Notes: Hi, all, sorry about the missing week. Just wanted to keep you all on the edge of your seat as to what's happening with Al and this new revelation that his best friend has the hots for him. heh. And there might be the evil cliffie at the end of this chapter...

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 21. 

Al really needed to speak to his dad. It was too bad that it was the middle of term and he couldn't just nip down to his dad's study and sit with him and talk. For so many years, for as long as he could remember, really, he'd loved sitting in the quiet room with his dad. It felt good to have his solid presence beside him. Even if neither of them said anything the whole time he was in there. It was enough just to be there whenever anything overwhelmed him. 

Sometimes his dad even let him fall asleep on the old squishy couch he kept in there, Mum had tried so many times to throw it away, but dad refused to let her, saying that it gave the room character. Al agreed when he discovered what character meant. 

Over the years it had survived everything three boisterous children dished out and Al felt it was as much a part of the reason he felt so safe in that room as his dad was. He remembered the first time he'd fallen asleep on the couch. He'd had an argument with James, but not just any argument, it was an all out battle that ended with Al punching James in the eye. 

To keep them apart his dad had taken him into the study and James had been left to the care of mum. He'd expected his dad to yell at him or get angry, but all he'd done was to tuck Al up in a blanket on the couch, give him a warm chocolate drink and let him be. Al had felt awful, but he'd drunk the chocolate as he sat there looking out of the window at the grey clouds that scudded across the sky. He must have been all of four years old and dropped off to sleep without realising it. 

The next morning the winter's first snow lay soft and clean on the window sill and Al had all but forgotten the fight, as is the way of childhood. It was a fresh, new day, fresh as that snow. His dad never mentioned it again and neither had Al. 

What he wouldn't give for some of his dad's advice now. He'd tried to get his head around what Lily had told him but it just didn't make sense. Scorpius was his best friend and surely he'd have noticed this before now should it be true. Lily must have her wires crossed, surely, been misreading things. 

What would his father say? Perhaps if he could close his eyes and imagine himself in his dad's study, he'd also be able to work out what advice he'd give. Which was silly really, because Al had no idea how to even start explaining things. 

The first thing he'd probably ask his dad would be if there was anything wrong with liking a boy _like that_. When Al concentrated, he could clearly hear his dad laughing in response. _Of course not, Al. Whatever gave you that idea?_ It didn't help Al, because he didn't know if he liked Scorpius _like that_. And he still wasn't at all sure that Lily was right. 

What if she was? He pictured Scorpius' face; his blond hair falling over his eyes as it did so often when his head was bent over a book and he was studying hard. He saw Scorpius' pale hand reaching absentmindedly to push the errant locks of hair behind his ears, only to fall forward again soon after. Well, he liked how Scorpius looked, but he wasn't sure he thought Scorpius was, like, sexy or anything. Not like Peri with her huge brown eyes that made him melt when he looked at her. Scorpius' eyes were grey and they went all dark when he was upset about something and they sparkled when he was happy.

Al caught his breath. 

And the kiss hadn't been bad at all. 

He groaned silently; this wasn't getting him anywhere and the Slytherin common room at 8pm was hardly the place to try and do some deep thinking. In a way he wished that Scorpius was here, so he could at least look at his friend straight in the eye and then he'd know. He knew Scorpius well enough to know when he was lying.

And suddenly, an incident from fourth year came back to him. The dance…that damned dance when Scorpius had acted all funny and they'd barely spoken for weeks and practically nothing over the holidays. He'd _known_ things hadn't been right then and Scorpius had asked him to trust him. 

Fourth year? 

Al's heart jumped. Had it been that long? It kind of confirmed that what Lily said had been the truth. Al wasn't stupid, despite all outward appearances. 

He felt rather humbled in the light of this revelation. Assuming it was correct, and he was fairly sure that he was right. 

Scorpius was his best friend, the best friend anyone could ever have hoped for and now he knew why. He had a choice now. Could he and Scorpius be more than best friends and if they couldn't, then could he save their friendship? This was a massive thing to be between them. 

And he didn't think he could bear to see the hurt in Scorpius' eyes should he say no.

But he still had no idea what to do. He thought of writing, but then, none of this could be dealt with in a letter. He'd have to wait until Scorpius returned to school. 

.o0o.

Three weeks later he got his wish and was waylaid by Lily on the way to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

"He's back. Remember what I said. Don't you dare hurt him."

"How could I, Lil? He's my best friend and I l—" He stopped as he'd been planning to say "love him like a brother" but he wasn't sure that was the truth. Not all of it. 

"What?" she asked, smiling smugly at him as if she knew what Al had been about to say. 

"Nothing." Al shook his head and walked into the Great Hall, looking for and spotting his friend's blond head already at the Ravenclaw table. 

Al froze, looking at Scorpius across the room. Scorpius had obviously been looking for him, too because their eyes locked and Al could see a desperate question in them. One that asked about friendship and love and also begged, 'please don't hate me, leave me, ignore me.'


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: I am evil yet again. Muahahahaha

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing."

"I can. You always eat like you haven't seen food for a week at breakfast time."

"I do not!"

Scorpius ignored the squabbling voices at his table as he and Al just looked at each other. He could feel his face flaming and he would have cursed his pale skin if there had been any room left inside his head for thoughts other than wondering what Al was thinking.

No matter what happened now, he wasn't going to look away first. After all they'd been through together, after years of being best friends and closer than anyone in Scorpius' life had been, he wasn't ashamed of having fallen for Al, and he was sure their friendship could withstand this.

Of course, he didn't expect Al to return his feelings, but he was determined to face this now it had all blown up in his face. The answer was to deal with it; get the awkward, awful, embarrassing discussion out of the way, in which Al very politely asserted that he wasn't gay and had a girlfriend, thanks anyway, and then move on, forget about it and go back to being best friends.

But then Scorpius wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing. It was going to take a lot of work on both sides if this thing was to be forgotten. He was going to have to clamp down even harder on his emotions; hide them better, as now Al knew what to look for he'd be on his guard, watching for Scorpius to show signs of it. And that would just make things terribly awkward. Make them remaining the best friends even harder.

Not that Scorpius had a choice about how he felt about Al. He hadn't when he'd first realised, and it hadn't become any easier in the ensuing years. He also knew that this wasn't some childish crush. Probably never had been.

So he wasn't surprised when Al broke eye contact first and looked down at the ground for a moment, before shaking his head and turning and leaving the Great Hall. Not surprised perhaps but hurt all the same. At least Al could have stayed and spoken to him. Dealt with this once and for all. This very public rejection shattered Scorpius and he hung his head and sighed shakily.

"Damn you, Albus Potter," he muttered to himself and pushed away from the table. It might be a mistake and only lead to Al shoving his rejection down his throat, but too fucking bad. Al was going to have to, because Scorpius wasn't running away from this. Not anymore.

He made his way out into the corridor and saw Al walking slowly back towards the dungeons. "Al," he called, breaking into a run to catch up.

When Al turned around Scorpius blanched and almost walked away because Al looked stricken. He was pale and the green eyes that were usually so alive with mischief appeared lined with worry. "Hi," was all Al said as Scorpius caught up with him.

Now he was here with Al in front of him, Scorpius wasn't sure what to say. Best just to do it and get it out of the way so Al would not look so lost. Scorpius took a deep breath. "Look, about what Lily said. It's nothing, just a silly thing. We can just forget it, can't we?"

Al looked away, seeming to think carefully. After several moments, when Scorpius was about to sigh in exasperation, Al shrugged. "I don't think I can," he replied softly, looking into Scorpius' eyes worriedly.

"Oh," Scorpius exhaled deeply and couldn't look at Al any longer, so dropped his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kiss you." One hand came up and ran through his hair. He was aware of sounding suspiciously like he was about to break down, and maybe he was, all he wanted was to be able to go back to what it was like before The Kiss.

"You didn't?"

Scorpius shook his head. "I'd never do anything to jeopardise our friendship, Al. You've been—" and here his voice finally gave out and his lower lip trembled ridiculously. God, he wasn't 5 years old, he didn't blubber like a girl! After a few seconds, giving himself time to breathe deeply and gain some control back, he continued. "You weren't supposed to ever know. I never wanted to put you in this position."

'You never planned on telling me?" Al's disbelieving voice made Scorpius look up into his face.

"Al, you're straight. You have a girlfriend. Telling you would have just made things awkward between us. That was the last thing I wanted and I've gone and done it anyway."

"I'd much rather you be honest with me. I thought that's why we were best friends. We were always honest with each other. If I feel let down or awkward over anything, it's that."

Scorpius exhaled again. He felt awful; he really had stuffed everything up. "Can you forgive me?"

"Of course, but you have to do one thing for me."

Scorpius was so relieved he nodded immediately. "Anything."

"Well," Al replied, frowning and reaching up to rub his forehead, a sure sign of agitation, Scorpius knew. "See, the thing is…what if I want to do it again?"

"Do what?" Scorpius' mouth went dry.

"I'm not promising anything, mind, but I've been thinking. Not been able to do much else, actually," Al said, giving a small wry smile as he looked at Scorpius. "It's just, you know I – well you're my best friend you know how I feel about you, and, well, I don't know if it's _just_ friends or if it could be something else. I'd never really thought about it before and then you kissed me and I liked it but I didn't know what to do. And I thought if you felt more that just friends --" Al was blushing so endearingly that Scorpius wanted to kiss him, which was kind of the point, so he reached up and cupped Al's heated cheeks in his hands, effectively silencing Al for all of a few seconds. Al always did tend to ramble on when he was nervous.

"T-Then maybe what I was feeling was more than friends, too," Al finished in a whisper as his eyes dropped to Scorpius' lips. "Can I kiss you?" Al asked, his eyes lifting to Scorpius' once more.

Scorpius nodded and then held his breath as Al's firm, warm lips closed over his own. His arms moved of their own accord to slide around Al's neck and into his mop of hair. He kept his eyes open, not wanting to miss a second of the expression on Al's face as they kissed. Al's eyes were closed and his lashes fluttered softly against his cheek. Scorpius tried not to move, but the sensations that assaulted his lips made him want more and he shifted slightly, tentatively opened his mouth and delicately let his tongue trace the outline of Al's lips.

The soft moan Al gave surprised him and the kiss deepened when Al responded by opening his mouth also and extending his tongue to join Scorpius' where they danced around each other as their lips continued to meet.

After what seemed like forever, they pulled apart; Scorpius not wanting the kiss to end because his hope might be shattered if Al decided it was not what he wanted after all. He pulled back to look into Al's eyes knowing Al could see the desperate hope shining in his own.


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: Muahahahahahahahaha cough I am so evil...

enjoy

jamie

xxx

PS:...Oh cloudy you reviews make me laugh so hard... muah!

* * *

Chapter 23.

"I knew watching you two would be hot."

Al broke away from Scorpius, flushing deeply. "Lily!" he exclaimed. "Um…" and there he stopped. He could have rambled on about it not being what it looked like, but, in actual fact, it _was_ what it looked like. He looked along the corridor as his sister approached them with a smug look of one who'd been proven right about something on her face.

"Lily, I'm sorry," Scorpius said. Lily waved his apology aside.

"Come on, Scorpius, no need for apologies. We both knew at some point this was going to happen."

"I didn't," Al protested, and Scorpius echoed him in agreement.

Lily looked between the two of them. "Boys!" she sighed. "Both as hopeless as each other."

Al took exception to this. He'd used up all his courage in asking to kiss Scorpius and he _still_ had no idea what to do. How on earth could Lily claim to have known something he still didn't? "I'm not hopeless," he protested. "And besides, I don't want to stand in the hall and discuss this. Anyone could come along and I'm not ready for the whole school to know about this, yet."

"That didn't seem to matter when you were snogging him a moment ago," Lily teased. "Anyway," she said as both boys blushed. "I haven't time for this, I really just came after you to make sure you were all right and to warn you that Aaron Davies was watching the two of you. If you don't want anyone to know, then I suggest you be more careful."

"I don't mind people knowing," Scorpius replied, as he turned and smiled at Al. "I've got nothing to hide any more."

Al smiled at his best friend taking in the soft look in his eyes. Scorpius reached for and took Al's hand, twining their fingers together and giving it a gentle squeeze. He loved Scorpius. He wasn't sure yet if it was the love for a best friend he was feeling, for that kiss was pretty amazing and he'd felt the heat from it right down to his toes, but the thought of sex with a boy was humiliatingly frightening. Scorpius was a boy! He had a cock! His chest was not soft and squishy like Peri's and he didn't have curves and secret warm places like she did.

And how did two boys do it, anyway? It wasn't as if he was totally naïve; he knew the mechanics of it, he just wasn't sure how you went about it. And could he really be attracted to cock and putting his … _up there?_

But this was Scorpius and for as long as they'd been friends there had always been this bond between them. What they'd been through, the countless little thoughtful things they did for each other – no two friends could ever be closer – and didn't _that_ say _something_ about how much Al loved Scorpius?

Why then was he dithering? He remembered back in the hospital when the Healer had told Scorpius that he could see his mum. He'd seen how excited his best friend was and that moment, the most emotional and deeply moving moment of his friends' life, he'd shared with Al.

Al pushed all his doubts aside; he _did_ love Scorpius and he supposed that the physical attraction would follow; it was just that it was all so new to him that he was unsure of himself. Right?

"Can we give it a few weeks before we let the whole world know?" Al said, smiling back at Scorpius. "I'd like to mention this to mum and dad before everyone else knows and it's not going to be easy telling mum I have a boyfriend, let alone telling her it's you." _Merlin, I have a boyfriend!_

Scorpius frowned. "You think she'll be angry, or try to talk you out of it?"

"I don't think angry will be quite the right word," Lily chimed in. "And you might want to stop holding hands."

"Right," Al said, dropping Scorpius' hand. "Her and dad have finally moved past these stupid arguments they were having. I need to tell her in my own way and time and not have her hear it from someone else."

Scorpius nodded. "Though if they're not arguing anymore, does that mean she's allowed your dad and my dad to be friends?" There was a hopeful note in Scorpius' tone and Al hated to dash his hopes.

He shook his head. "No, it means that since your mum has been better, your dad has had little time for mine and so mine's been home a lot more. Mum says he came back with his tail between his legs all contrite because she was right all along and your dad dropped him like a hot potato the minute your mum got better."

Lily snorted. "Rubbish. Even if that were the case, and I know it's not because I heard our dads talking over the Floo one night, dad just doesn't give in like that."

"I know," Al agreed. He rubbed Scorpius' arm comfortingly. "I'm not saying she's right; she never has been about you or your dad. I'm just saying this is what she _thinks_ and so I need to tread carefully."

"Why would it be different that I'm dating you instead of Lily?" Scorpius asked, frowning.

"It just will be. Trust me. She'll take this as something serious because we've been best friends forever. You and Lily – you were always more _friendly_ towards each other than boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Perhaps I can tell her I'm a lesbian to take the heat off?" Lily joked, her eyes lighting up in mischief.

Al caught her eye and grinned. Lily was good stress relief. "And watch the world explode while you destroy her second chance at grandchildren and a decent son-in-law? No, I think you've done enough to help us, thanks, Lily."

From the distance came the sounds of several students moving out of the Great Hall. Lily grinned. "No time like the present for a public break up with my boyfriend."

"Which reminds me," Scorpius replied. "Who is this bloke you're interested in?"

"Whoever said it was a bloke?" Lily smirked and stepped away, raising her voice just as the students came around the corner. "I don't ever want to speak to you again, Scorpius Malfoy," she shouted and kicked Scorpius in the ankle.

As she stormed off down the corridor, Al and Scorpius just stared after her. "Ouch," Scorpius whispered.


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: Well, a little return to the fun of the first few years, letting the boys natural liking for fun come to the fore for just a little while - before the next set of angst sets in and they are all :( again.

Enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Chapter 24.

"You'd think after nearly six years in this place, the house-elves would change the menu occasionally," grumbled Chance as he dug around in his mashed potatoes like he was looking for some hidden treasure.

"Well, it's Wednesday and you know what that means." Scorpius grinned around the table.

"Bangers and mash!" came the response from about ten of the students close by, which included Bobby, Seamus, Rose, Posey and Lily. The eight of them had become close friends over the years, and so far were the only ones to know about Al and himself being together, apart from Scorpius' parents. Rose had been horrified until she realised how much her dad and Hugo would hate it. Then she'd become a staunch supporter along with the rest of them

Chance dropped his fork onto the plate. "But it's such…_ pedestrian_ fare. Surely they could add some decent sausages and more flavoursome gravies."

Scorpius watched as Chance picked up his pumpkin juice and drank it instead. Of course, Chance had a point; the food at Hogwarts was very plain and uninteresting, the house-elves catering for quantity and not quality. It had annoyed his own more refined taste buds back in first year but he was used to it now.

Besides, he remembered complaining to his mother in his very first letter home. She had replied by telling him to grow up and remember that not everyone was as fortunate as he was to have culinary house-elves in their employ. Most people had to cook for themselves and some didn't even have enough food. She'd made him feel ashamed of his complaining and he'd not done it again.

Al squeezed his hand under the table and so he dragged his eyes away from Chance's plate and smiled at his boyfriend.

"Perhaps Chance needs some flavouring himself," Al whispered, a cheeky grin lighting his face. It made Scorpius' chest ache in happiness.

"What do you mean? I know that look, Al. Don't get me detention the night before going home for Easter break. Please?"

"Scared, Scorpius?" Al crooned, letting his hand go and sliding it along his thigh. Scorpius gasped softly and clamped down his hand over Al's.

"Yes! What if your mum decides you can't come to my place because of it? You know how much I've wanted you to meet my mother."

"I know, but come on. We need some fun and his complaining is putting a dampener on my day," Al said, giving Scorpius those annoyingly adorable puppy dog eyes.

"Albus Potter, don't you dare try and use that hang dog look to get your own way." Scorpius hissed.

Posey leaned into him from his other side and said, "You're wrapped around his little finger, Scorpius, give it up." He turned and frowned at her. He most certainly was not! She was laughing at him!

Maddeningly, she shook her head and turned back to her dinner, carefully scooping up a forkful of mashed potatoes. She gave Scorpius an innocent smile before flicking the gob of potato directly at Chance.

There was a few seconds of suspended disbelief and then all hell broke loose, with calls of 'food fight' and big globs of food flying through the air in random directions. Scorpius sat there in the melee unmoving, but inside laughing himself to bits because the majority of the missiles were aimed directly at Aaron Davies who was seated at the next table.

Scorpius clamped down on Al's leg even harder and hissed, "Don't you dare, Albus, because if you get detention I will never speak to you again."

There was some grumbling from Al beside him and Scorpius almost retaliated when a huge blob of mash and peas mixed with gravy landed on his forehead and dripped down into his lap, but neither of them participated.

Scorpius couldn't help but be amused that one simple comment from Al had started it all, but there was too much riding on this Easter break. Al was going to tell his parents about them being together, finally. And then, Al was going to come and meet his mother properly for the first time. He had shown her the pensieve Al had made for him and she had been visibly moved and was looking forward to meeting the boy that had captured her son's heart.

"Scorpius," Al said from beside him. "We could join in now and no one would even notice. Duck!" Al pushed Scorpius out of the path of a mound of pudding, but ended up with a face full of ice cream. "Hmmm, strawberry." He grinned as he licked the drips running into his mouth.

Scorpius laughed and turned to look at him. It was true, most of the Hall was involved now and the professors were making futile attempts to stop the raucous fun. And Al looked so cute with this face full of melted ice cream Scorpius was tempted to lean in and _lick_ it clean.

Just as he was thinking about the ramifications of doing just that – wondering if he could get away with it while everyone else was so preoccupied – both he and Al were doused with warm custard. It dripped down Scorpius' hair and under his collar and down his back. Al looked like a drowned rat as he sat there shoulders hunched and a look of complete shock on his face.

Scorpius looked around and saw the smug face of James Potter grinning back at him. Al's eyes followed Scorpius' and they both hissed at the same time. "This means war."

They pulled out their wands. It was the same as it had always been, the two of them against all odds.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: Enjoy! Sorry there was no update last week, school and a few other RL problems hit me harder than I thought...why do I need a RL for anyway? lol.

jamie

xxx

* * *

"Oh no, don't use that one," Lily said elbowing Albus in the side. "I think this meal calls for the good plates, don't you?"

Albus narrowed his eyes as he looked at her and saw the teasing smile.

"The good plates sound like a lovely idea, Lily," said Ginny, entering the dining area with a vase full of flowers. Al sighed. He hated those flowers; they were so…pedestrian. How Scorpius would laugh at him for borrowing one of Chance's current favourite words. But it was true. Much as Al loved his mum, her taste was pretty ordinary, choosing the mass-produced all year blooming flowers, rather than spending a little time selecting ones in season.

As Al turned to the sideboard to collect the good plates, he mentally smacked himself. Christ, he really was gay, wasn't he, if he was worried about flowers? Which all brought him back to thinking about the butterflies doing somersaults in his stomach. As families went, he knew his was pretty good; certainly a lot better than several others he knew of. All the same, he could virtually guess the reaction to his news of every single one of them.

Lily and his dad would be fine with it; he knew that and was more grateful for their support than they would ever know, especially seeing as he was still unsure about this whole thing. Not Scorpius; he knew he loved Scorpius. More the physical side of things. He'd liked the kissing and they'd done plenty of that, it was the rest of it he was worried about. Scorpius said they should take it slowly because it was new to both of them. Al still worried, because he'd not even doubted his physical attraction to Perri.

Anyway, as much as he and James fought and argued, he knew that apart from an adjustment period while James got over the fact that his brother preferred blokes and a poncy blond Ravenclaw at that, he'd be all right.

It was his mum Al was worried about. There was an odd, false truce in the house at the moment – it felt like peace, but Al could sense the undercurrents swirling. His dad was doing his best to keep the peace and his mum was not so silently gloating that she'd been right all along. Of course, she'd conveniently forgotten that Mrs. Malfoy has asked them all for dinner to thank them for their support of Mr. Malfoy and Scorpius through their ordeal. And that she'd refused.

Al moved close to Lily as he set the table. "Stick close to me tonight?" he asked her.

She squeezed his arm. "Of course."

"Thanks," he replied, quietly, turning and giving her a quick hug. "Love you, Lils."

"Same, you silly git." The smile in her eyes gave him courage.

.o0o.

"It's nice to have you all home." Harry smiled as he raised his glass to them all. "Happy Easter."

The rest of them raised their glasses in response and echoed his words.

"Yes, it's nice to have just the family together this holidays, without various boyfriends and missing sons off to girlfriend's places," Ginny said, tight lipped as she always was when mentioning anything to do with Scorpius. Last time Scorpius had been here was Valentine's Day; the day his mum woke up. The day he'd kissed Al and started this whole thing off. Wow.

Harry coughed to break the sudden silence. "Well, someone should bring us up to date on all the news. We rarely hear from you during term anymore."

"Well, both boys have a detention as soon as they get back," Lily said innocently, beginning to eat her meal.

"What?" Ginny asked, frowning. "Whatever did you do to get that?"

"Something about a food fight in the Great Hall," mumbled James.

Harry's mouth twitched, Al saw it. "What happened?"

"Well, Al and blondie were just sitting there in amongst a food fight looking all dopey at each other and blondie looked positively about to devour Al, so I dumped jugs of custard over them. They fought back."

There was dead silence in the room, Al's heart threatening to jump right out of his chest. He kept his eyes on his plate and didn't dare look up. This wasn't the way he'd wanted to tell his parents. Well, his mum, anyway. Maybe if he just ignored James' comment, so would everyone else.

Al's luck wasn't that good. "What is all this about the Malfoy boy?" Ginny asked. Harry sighed and for a second Al wondered if he already knew. Scorpius' parents already knew and maybe Mr. Malfoy told his dad.

"I dumped him," Lily said. "Kicked him in the ankle right in front of everyone."

The air could have been cut with a knife and Al sighed and raised his head to look at Lily, giving her a smile and mouthed a silent "Thank you." It was about time he just told them. "Scorpius and I are…dating," he said. Couldn't be more clear than that, could he?

His mother's knife clattered to her plate loudly in the quiet and Al faced her, prepared for her anger. But she was calm, though shocked. Al almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then he noticed how pale she was and the slowly spreading flush staining her neck. That was usually a sign of something worse than anger.

"No, you aren't," she whispered, defiantly. "That family has taken your father away from me, the younger one has probably had his filthy hands all over my daughter and I will not allow him to sully our good name by insinuating himself further into our family. I bet that has been his goal all along. I was willing to let you choose your own friends, Albus, and your boyfriends, Lily, but I see that neither of you have the sense you were born with. Therefore, I will make the rules. You will not see this boy other except when necessary at school..."

"No, mum," Al protested, at the same time as Lily and his dad jumped in.

"Ginny! No, that is enough! I've held my tongue long enough. You cannot dictate to the children who their friends will be. I'll admit, when Draco told me about Al and Scorpius I was surprised—"

"You knew?" Ginny screeched, almost echoing the screaming voice in his own head.

"Yes, I knew."

'I'll not have it, Harry. You and your bleeding do gooder attitude towards those Malfoys have ruined our family."

"They have done nothing, Ginny. You are the one who had taken your own irrational dislike and turned it into some sort of insane crusade. Scorpius is Al's friend; they've been best friends since first year. Look at Al; he's a decent lad. He's not been ruined. Draco and I are friends now and I've not been ruined either. Scorpius dated lily and she's definitely not ruined."

Al wondered if Lily would pipe up and mention that her and Scorpius dating was only a front. He was immensely relieved that his dad knew and had as good as approved of him and Scorpius, but the way his mum and dad were fighting, and over him…it made him want to just give in and say he'd not see Scorpius again if only they would stop fighting. Next thing, they'd be getting divorced and then where would he be? He'd hate it if he was the cause of them splitting up.

"This is rather different than Lily dating him, I knew that wasn't serious. This…this…probably is. You've seen how close they are!" The flush had spread over Ginny's pale face now and Al was about to throw down his knife and fork, but his mum stood. "I'll not have it, Albus. You are not to date that Malfoy spawn and that's final."

She swiftly left the room, the rest of them remained seated at the table looking at each other rather dumbfounded.

"Dad…" Al croaked. "I'm s—"

"No, don't be. You've done nothing wrong."

"But…"

"Dad's right, Al. She didn't go off like this when I started dating him, it's not fair that she try and tell you not to date him."

"I don't even like the blond git and I agree with Lils," James added. "I'd hate it if mum decided she didn't like Steph, but I'd never stop seeing her just because of that."

"Thanks," Al whispered, incredibly moved by the support of the rest of his family.

"James is right, Al," Harry added as he stood and dropped his napkin on top of his plate. "I'll go and talk to her, don't you worry about a thing. Perhaps you might like to go and ask Scorpius if you can visit."

"Thanks, dad," Al said nodding. Seeing Scorpius would be a good thing.

He was very thankful he had such a great dad, though he had to wonder what he meant as he walked off muttering to himself, "Should have taken him up on his offer all those years ago."


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: Don't kill me for the angst in this one...Albus insisted.

jamie

xxx

* * *

"Father, it's all right that Al comes for the night, isn't it?" Scorpius asked, turning to his father.

"Certainly, Scorpius," Draco replied. "I assume Albus has told his parents then?"

"It seems so," Scorpius nodded, turning back immediately to the fire and ignoring his father's mumbling about the lack of breeding in certain pure blood families. "Father says you can come through, Al."

"Thanks. I'll just grab some stuff for overnight and be there in a few minutes."

"How about Lily and your brother?" Scorpius didn't really care about James Potter, but if things were bad at the Potters and he had nowhere else to go, then…well he was Al's brother, and that was all there was to it.

"Lily's gone to Meaghan Davies' place and James went to Uncle George's."

"Davies? As in Aaron Davies? This is new, I didn't realise they were friends."

"Me, either," Al replied. "I know what you're thinking, but she has been so good to us, I'm not even thinking of doubting her judgement."

"No, me either," Scorpius finished quietly. But it will be something to keep an eye on in any case, he added silently to himself. The thought of Lily crushing on Aaron Davies was worrying. Davies had spent the better part of his entire six years at Hogwarts finding ways to aggravate both he and Albus. They'd seen such a nasty side to his character that Scorpius would hate to see Lily exposed to. She was like a sister to him.

Al said goodbye, promising to be there as soon as he had his overnight things ready and told his dad where he was going. Scorpius turned back to his father.

"Father, what would you do if your close friend had a crush on someone entirely inappropriate?"

Draco looked up from his book, his eyes on Scorpius thoughtfully for a while before he closed the book and placed it beside him. "You can't tell someone who to love or not to love, Scorpius," he responded, smiling sadly at him as he picked up his tumbler of whisky. "I would have thought you and Albus had realised that."

"True," Scorpius bobbed his head in agreement. "But that was different. At the time I thought it was inappropriate, too, because he was my best friend, but--"

"Not different at all, Scorpius. My point was that the heart wants who it wants, regardless of how appropriate or not that person is."

"Have you had some experience of that before, father?" Scorpius asked, curious.

"Once, a long time ago," Draco answered brusquely. Then he smiled. "But then I found your mother and you know how very much I love her. Things have a tendency to work out, Scorpius. Be careful you don't ruin your friendship with Lily over something like this." Scorpius sat there staring at his dad; he wasn't usually so caring, or astute. It was a little scary, really. Then the world tilted back into its proper orbit. "I have no idea what you see in that Potter brood, anyway. All hair and glasses and Gryffindors."

Scorpius laughed. "Al's not a Gryffindor, father." Draco looked at him fondly.

"No, he's not. He does have that Potter hair, though. How on earth do you…I mean it can't be as--" Draco stopped. "Never mind," he said, sighing as he downed the last of his drink. Leaving Scorpius to grin and wonder if he should set his dad straight on the softness or otherwise of the Potter hair.

Al stepped through the Floo then and stalled any further discussion. He had a small bag with him that Scorpius directed one of the house-elves to take to his room. Then he hugged his boyfriend who looked like worry lines had formed a permanent groove in his forehead.

'You all right?" he asked Al, pulling back and looking deep into his eyes. Al nodded.

"Just tired and worried and…disappointed, I guess."

"Disappointed? Why? You knew your mum wasn't going to take it well." Scorpius led him over to the couch and sat Al down.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Malfoy," Al said, ignoring Scorpius for the moment as he saw Draco in the room pouring himself another glass of whisky.

"Hello, Albus. You look like you could do with one of these. I don't suppose your father would object too strongly if it was just the one?"

"N-no sir," Albus replied, eyes widening when he was handed a glass with a small amount of whisky in it. "Thank you."

"Pleasure." He sat down. "Now, do you want to tell us what happened?"

"Father!" Scorpius protested. He wasn't sure that Albus would want to speak about it with anyone else. It wasn't really his business, after all. "Al might not want to speak with you about it."

Draco nodded. "Quite right," he replied and was about to stand and leave, but Al stopped him.

"No, it's all right, I don't mind. An adult's perspective on this might help, actually."

"But you can hardly count on it being unbiased," Scorpius reminded Al.

"I know, but it can hardly be as biased as my mum's can it?" Al replied, leaning into Scorpius' arms.

Draco nodded thoughtfully. "The Weasley family has a lot of reasons to dislike the Malfoy name," he admitted. "I have to admit that I am surprised that it is Potter's wife that is still carrying the grudge after more than twenty years."

"I thought she was coming around," Al said sadly. "She thinks you and dad aren't talking." Al gave a tired grin at that. "And she didn't go on like this when Scorpius and Lily were going out."

"Some people don't ever get past their prejudices," Draco said. "My father, for instance, never saw past centuries old tradition and blood lines."

"That's not something that we should have to pay for, though, is it?" Albus asked. "We haven't had war in our lifetime, we don't understand how it was. I get that. We all get that. And I would never disrespect anything about the war, but we have to live and grow up in this world and one day, kids our age will be running the Ministry and will be the people that make laws and set fashions and what have you and sooner or later we have to stop using the war to justify every action, thought and decision we make."

Scorpius blinked at Al. It was the longest speech he'd ever heard Al make. "I'm really tired, Scorpius," Al said, raising his glass tiredly and downing the whisky in one gulp. Bad move apparently, because he coughed and spluttered for a few moments. "I know mum is wrong about this and I am thankful for my dad standing up for us, and Lily and even James in his own way, but their arguments have become really bad and I feel as if it is all my fault. I don't want them to split up. She may be wrong in this but she's my mum, you know…?" He looked at Scorpius imploringly and Scorpius' stomach dropped. He knew what was going to happen now.

Scorpius looked at his father. It was hard not to be bitter about something that had happened over twenty years ago still meaning enough to some people that it took away his best friend and his boyfriend all in one hit. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't, but he knew that if it came to a choice between Al and his own mother, then family would win. He was a Malfoy and as such he was required to behave like one. Right, then.

He looked back at Al, who was now looking down at his hands. "Don't worry, I understand, Al, your family must come first. Maybe it's a bad idea you stay here tonight then, perhaps you should go home."

Al shook his head. "If it's all right with you, I'll stay here and let them settle down. I think the last thing they'll want to see is me tonight, I've caused enough trouble as it is."

Draco slammed down his glass. "Oh, what bollocks! You two have been friends for six years, if that was going to break their marriage apart, it would have done so by now. This is not your fault, Albus."

Scorpius mentally thanked his father.

"No, it's yours and my dad's, too," Albus replied, placing his glass on the table and running his hand though his hair only succeeding in messing it further.

"That's a bit unfair," Scorpius said, frowning.

"Look," Al said shaking his head as he stood up. "I think I should go, actually. I don't want to get into an argument. I'm sorry, Scorpius…"

"You do what you have to," Scorpius replied, heart breaking, but refusing to let his anguish show on his face.

"Right…well… sorry," Al said hurriedly and stepped back through the Floo, leaving Scorpius standing there wondering when things had all gone so terribly wrong.

He felt his father's hand come down on his shoulder and he closed his eyes, not wanting to be comforted, feeling like he'd break if he let go for one second.

"I'm sorry, Scorpius," Draco said.

Scorpius took a deep breath. "I suppose you're going to tell me I should have expected as much from a Potter?" Scorpius hated the flat sound of his voice.

"No, I was going to say give him time and I'm sure things will settle down. He'll come back."

"No, he won't. If his mother isn't over it by now, she never will be." He sighed, cringing at the shakiness. "If you don't mind, father I think I'll go to my room now. I need to be alone."

"All right. I'll send your mother in to see you when she returns, shall I?"

Scorpius shrugged. He just wanted to get away from here and his father and reminders of …everything. Right now he hated being a Malfoy, he hated having to live with a history he had no part of and he hated being thought of as not good enough to fight for. Even though he understood Albus' reasons…he still hated it.

By the time he'd reached his room, angry, broken tears were already trailing down his face.


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Note: More angst I'm afraid.

enjoy.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

There was an ominous silence as Albus headed for his room after stepping out of the Floo from Scorpius' place. He wasn't sure if his parents had heard the roar and quieted their argument until he was behind his bedroom door, but he wasn't going to hang around to find out.

His stomach was still clenched tightly and it gave a lurch as he realised what he'd done. Throwing himself onto his bed, he wondered if it was possible to feel any more like he was going to throw up but not actually do it, than he did right then.

For six years he and Scorpius had been the best of friends. They'd argued and there'd been times when they hadn't spoken to one another for weeks – even a whole summer once. But he'd never, ever thought he'd lost him irretrievably. He'd always known with a certainty that they'd make up and be friends again. Scorpius was part of his very essence.

As he drifted unhappily into a restless sleep, the thought hit him, that this time it felt different, permanent. Real.

Voices woke him the next morning and he groaned as he rolled over and pulled the covers up over his ears trying to block out the noise of several Weasleys shouting at the tops of their voices downstairs. Of course, it was Easter, and for some reason only known to himself, his dad liked to have as many Weasleys in the house at holiday times as could make it. Al loved his family, but right now he was in no mood for sly digs at his being a Slytherin from his Uncle Ron, sad, worried looks from Nana Molly and that 'I have my family to back me up now' look on his mother's face.

He wondered if it was possible to duck back through the Floo to Scorpius. He could call out brightly 'Hey, it's me again…' and pretend like nothing happened, right?

An hour later the voices downstairs sounded like they were becoming heated and Al sighed and dragged himself out of bed. With the door opened slightly, he found he could hear every word they were saying and his stomach sank when the topic of the argument was himself and Scorpius.

For his own sanity he knew he should just shut the door and let them all argue with each other until they finally ran out of things to say. Eavesdropping never benefited anyone, his dad always said. According to him, you usually ended up overhearing things you would rather not know. Why on earth, with his luck running the way it was, would he be any different?

There was his Uncle Ron. "How can you let another one of your kids date a Malfoy, Harry? Ginny was right in demanding that he stop. This has gone on long enough."

"Oh, shut it, Ron. Scorpius is a good lad. They've been friends since their first day at Hogwarts. A lot like you and me."

"Doesn't make a speck of difference how long, Harry. You know that family has always been dark. Malfoy's father tried to kill you several times and Ginny, too. Fuck, Malfoy almost killed me and he let those Death Eaters into Hogwarts allowing Bill to get mauled by Greyback."

Al could just imagine his Uncle's face getting redder and redder, as it tended to do when he got angry.

"That was over twenty years ago, Ron, and we're not talking about Malfoy, we're talking about his son and Scorpius hasn't done anything to deserve this."

God, Al loved his dad.

"I don't care, Harry." His mother's voice. "I will not have Albus going out with that Malfoy boy."

"But it was all right for Lily to go out with him? Is it because he's a Malfoy that you don't want Al with him or because he's a boy?" Harry was getting cross now; Al could hear it in his tone.

"I don't care that Albus is gay, Harry," his mother replied. "I will not have this family associated with those Malfoys. Lily was more sensible and I could see that it wasn't going to last. That boy has bewitched Albus since he was eleven years old and Al reminds me of you at that age. Completely clueless."

"What are you on about? Albus is sixteen years old; he's not clueless at all. Neither was I for that matter!"

"Oh, you were so. I had to practically undress in front of you to get you to notice me. If I hadn't, you'd probably still be stammering and stuttering and not having a clue how to talk to women!"

"If you think so little of me then why did you want me so much?" His dad's voice was quieter now; colder than Al had ever heard it unless someone, usually James, had done something really _really_ bad. It made Al shiver with worry.

"Come on, you two," Aunt Hermione said pleadingly. "It's Easter and we should be spending time with the family..."

"Ask Ginny where the children are," Harry interrupted. "Ask her why they felt so uncomfortable in their own home last night that they all left to stay with friends, instead."

"And if I'd had some support like a real husband is supposed to give his wife, then none of this would have happened. You should take a look at yourself, Harry. Your bloody friendship with Draco has caused the rift in this family, it's nothing I've done."

Al hated that self-righteous tone in his mother's voice. He hated that she thought she was always right as long as she had her family to support her. And because she was a Weasley they always supported her unquestioningly. Al knew it was a warped circle.

Mr. Malfoy was right. Some people never let go of their prejudices. His mum and the Weasleys were people like that. Things had been a lot better when his mum had thought Mr. Malfoy stopped contacting his dad; they'd been more discreet and not shoved it in everyone's faces and that had gone a long way to making peace in this house. Now, it was all shot to hell again because he'd wanted to date Scorpius.

Well, he couldn't stand this anymore. All the Weasleys would side with his mum. His dad wouldn't be able to stand up to all of them, not even if Al jumped in there and stood with him. And the way that his parents were talking to each other it sounded a lot less like love and more like hate.

Al swallowed the lump in his throat. He just wanted his family back; all happy, all speaking nicely to each other and not fragmented and broken, jagged like one wrong move would cause it all to fall down entirely.

Each step he took down the stairs built his anguish higher. They were still going at it and Uncle Ron had joined in again and even Nana Molly was agreeing with his mum and telling his dad not to say things like that to her daughter. It was never going to stop.

As soon as he saw their faces he knew it. There was nothing else to do.

"You can all just shut up!" he yelled. Silence fell as their startled faces all turned to him.

"Al…"

"Shut. Up." Al repeated through gritted teeth. "I am only going to say this once and then I would appreciate it if none of you spoke to me. Ever again. It will no doubt please you all that I have decided that the happiness of my mother and this family comes before my own and therefore I have told Scorpius that he and I can no longer date, or even be friends."

The burning in the back of Al's throat made him aware he'd need to leave the room right away, lest he break down into tears, and a sixteen year old _man_ - he'd never be a boy again – would never cry like a baby in front of his family. He turned, barely glimpsing his father's pained face before running back up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him.


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: Not much less angsty,I'm afraid. Not yet. :(

Enjoy though

jamie

xxxx

* * *

It was the right thing to do he knew it was. Or maybe it wasn't, but it didn't matter anyway, _someone_ had to do something. His family was falling apart. Maybe now his dad and his mum would stop the arguing and the cold silences and go back to being… well, whatever it was that they were before. It seemed like they'd been arguing about Malfoys for as long as he could remember. At least they could settle back into being a family again.

Al rolled over and pulled the covers of his bed over his head, hiding from the world and wondering why, when he knew he'd done the right thing, did he feel like his chest was being sliced into. So much for doing the right thing always making you feel good. He'd have to remember to tell Scorpius…

Fuck.

There was a knock on his door. "Al?" His dad. He was just about to answer when he heard his mother admonish his dad to just go in there. That was just too much! His bedroom was his refuge, how dare she think to violate that last remaining thing he had that he could call his own, his safe place? He reached over for his wand and, completely ignoring the trouble he would get into for doing magic out of school, cast the strongest locking charms and wards on his door. He knew his dad would have no trouble getting past them, his mum might have trouble though, but he trusted his dad to not let her in.

"Can we talk to you, Al?" Harry called.

"Please, Al," Ginny added. "We just want to thank you for doing the right thing."

"Ginny!" Harry exclaimed. "_We_ want no such thing! How can you even say that?"

There was a thundering up the steps and he heard Lily's voice. She was obviously home. "How's Al?" she asked. "They told me downstairs what happened."

"He won't let us in," Harry replied.

"I don't blame him," Lily said.

"You can go back downstairs, Lily," Ginny said imperiously.

"Aw, mum, do I have to? I know Albus would want someone to talk to."

"Then he can talk to us!"

"Go away!" Al shouted. He'd had enough. Lily would be a comfort, but he didn't want to risk them coming in with her if he lowered the wards.

There was silence for a few moments before his mum spoke. "Well, the family will be waiting downstairs for you when you decide to join us. It will be so nice to be a real family again." Then she left; Al could hear her going down the stairs.

"Al"? Lily's concerned voice came through the door.

"What, Lil?" He didn't let her in, because he knew his dad was still there and as much as he'd given Al his support, he thought he'd best start as he meant to go on, not making his dad take his side.

"How are you?"

"I've been better."

"I can't believe you did that. How was Scorpius?"

_Oh, Scorpius…_

Al felt like something inside him had broken. He swallowed convulsively a few times, determined not to cry. If he started he might not stop. "Well, he didn't kick me in the ankle, if that's what you're asking. He understood…" He had to stop there; he could hear the voice getting really thin.

Lily gave a soft laugh. "It's not going to work, you know." There was a soft thump on the door and Al could picture her sitting on the floor resting her head against the wood of the door.

"There was nothing else to do, Lil," he replied tiredly. "I can't fight them all. Not when it's making mum and dad fight all the time." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Me being unhappy is a small price to pay for everyone being happier and fighting less and being a real family, again."

"What was that?" Lily called. "I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing."

"We'll work something out, Al," Harry said, but Al didn't reply. It didn't matter anyway.

.o0o.

Later, when everyone was sound asleep, Al rose and made sure his bag was packed with the few things he'd brought home from school for Easter. Quickly he wrote a note to Lily telling her he would see her back at school and slid it under her door as he walked downstairs to Floo back to school.

Things would get back to normal in his family faster if he went back to school straight away. There were lots of other students who had stayed at Hogwarts for the Easter break instead of going home, so he wouldn't be on his own.

Half an hour later, after having explained his early return to a very sleepy and not too happy headmistress, he was undressing again and sliding into his own bed in the Slytherin dormitory.

Despite being so exhausted, sleep eluded him for a long time, the silence in the dorm not broken as it usually was by the snores and snuffles of his housemates. He missed that. And now he was back, he had several more problems to contend with, not the least of which was how he was going to manage seeing Scorpius every day. He'd have a couple of days at most before he had to confront that problem. The rest of his dorm mates would be returning tomorrow.

He realised that apart from Lily he had no one to talk this stuff over with. Now Scorpius was not an option, Al saw just how integral a part he'd become in his life. And he saw now just how much he'd been avoiding thinking too much about Scorpius. It _hurt_ too much to think about him. He wanted a shoulder to cry on.

Actually, what he really wanted was Scorpius to hold.


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Awww, I love Lily so much!

Enjoy,

jamie

xxxx

* * *

"Scorpius?"

Scorpius was sitting on his window ledge staring out at the grounds of the Manor. It felt unfair that spring meant the happy sounds of birds and a riot of green and colours of new flowers, when inside he felt as dead and as colourless as winter. Lily's voice at his door surprised him but he tried to ignore it as he'd done with both his parents' attempts to communicate with him.

Her insistent knocking came again. "I'm not going away," she said in the tone she used when she was serious. His crying finished long ago, in which the last of his childhood had been washed away, he shrugged and stood.

"I suppose you'd better come in, then," he said when he opened to door to a concerned Lily. She looked at him closely.

"How are you?"

"I'll survive." He felt a moment's pride that his formal Malfoy mask was holding up rather well; he barely even doubted that statement. "How is Albus?" Not even a twinge.

"Devastated. He told them all that he was no longer going to be dating you or be your friend." Lily's eyes still watched him for a reaction, but he refused to give her one. Instead he headed back to the window seat and sat down. It was bad enough as it was without being a girl and crying all over the place about something he couldn't change. "He's just made things worse."

Scorpius looked up at that. "Why?"

"Because my mum is a cow who thinks he's done the right thing and now we can be a family again."

"And that's not going to work?"

"Are you kidding? Dad's ready to walk out, and if he does I'm going with him. I'm assuming Al will, too. James has declared himself neutral and it's almost all out war in my house at the moment."

That broke through Scorpius' defenses. "It was all for nothing then?" He wanted to ask if she thought Scorpius would come back, but she was surely more worried about her family breaking apart than whether or not her brother would go back to his boyfriend.

"Of course it was all for nothing. People like my mum and some of the Weasleys are really predictable, you know? They're as stubborn as gnomes and unless you put your foot down they just go about their merry ways and don't even realise how ridiculous they're being."

Lily tossed her bag down on the floor and threw herself onto Scorpius' bed. Scorpius watched her, thoughtfully.

"What's going to happen?" he asked carefully.

"I have no idea," Lily replied. "Al's locked himself in his room and won't even let me in. Dad could break through the locks but he wouldn't unless he thought Al was in danger."

Scorpius nodded. "Why are you here?"

Lily rolled over onto her stomach to look at him. "To make sure that you're all right, silly."

"Why wouldn't I be all right?" He didn't notice how badly his jaw clenched when he said that, really, he didn't.

"Boys," Lily sighed and closed her eyes. "Speaking of which, I heard your dad arguing with mine just as I came up. I think your dad called mine after he let me through the Floo."

"Oh?" Scorpius raised his eyebrows. He could only imagine the sorts of things his father would be saying to Mr. Potter, seeing as he'd been on the wrong end of more than one tirade against Al's dad in the past. Before they'd been friends. "What's he saying?"

"Something about how us kids shouldn't be made to pay for something that we have no knowledge of. That we haven't lived with war and have no conception of what it's like, and I didn't get the rest, your House-elf dragged me away pretty quickly."

Most of those words had been the ones Al used when he was here. Scorpius was impressed that his father remembered them, or the sentiments at least. It drew a smile from him.

"Oh, he also said that my dad should have been sorted into Hufflepuff if he couldn't even stand up to his wife over something as important as his son's happiness."

"I don't want them fighting, too. God, it's all fallen apart." Scorpius hung his head, feeling terribly sad and tired, wishing he could just turn back time to when things were a lot simpler – when Al was only his best friend and the world made a lot more sense.

Lily rose and stood beside him, placing an arm around his shoulders. "Things will work out, Scorpius, you'll see. Some time in the future we'll look back on this and I'll be able to say, 'I told you so' and we'll laugh."

He shook his head. "I doubt it." Turning he nestled into her arm, winding his own around her hips and grateful for the comfort. He wished it was Al, but Lily was perhaps a better choice.

"It will be," she reiterated fiercely. "I'm going to make sure of it."

"How can you do that?"

"I'm not sure. But my mum and her family are wrong in this and they're not only ruining yours and Al's lives, but dad's and mine and in the end their own, too. Because no one is happy. We're not a family anymore."

She went and sat on the bed and Scorpius rose and followed her.

"That's what Al wanted to avoid by doing this. You don't think you and your father should try and do what Al wanted?"

"No! Because if my mother is prepared to put her own selfish outdated prejudices before the happiness of her own son then what will happen if I decide to marry someone she doesn't like? It's only the start. I reckon dad kept a good hold on her in the past, especially when we were dating, because she barely said a word. But now…now it's like the floodgates have opened and she's showing her real colours."

Scorpius put his arm around her, his own desolation forgotten for the moment. "Like Aaron Davies you mean?"

Lily looked up at him wide-eyed and fearful. "It's all right," Scorpius assured her. "I'm the last one to tell you who to fall for. I'd wish someone better for you, but…" He sighed. "Just know that if he hurts one hair on your head, he'll wish he'd never been born."

"He doesn't even know I exist yet," Lily said in a small voice.

"He's mad then," Scorpius replied.

There was a short silence, and then Scorpius lay down on the bed, gently pulling Lily down beside him. "I assume seeing you brought your bag you're staying?"

She nodded.

"Good. I think we could both use a hug."

She put her arms around him. "Oh, Scorpius, it will all work out. He'll come back to you, he loves you too much to stay away for too long."

He fell asleep hoping she was right.


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Still more angst. Just a note on the short chapters...this story is being written weekly (mostly) to prompts in the Livejournal community AWDT (Amazing Weekly Drabble Thingy) and technically should be about 500 words, but the story has grown a life of it's own. I will be sticking with the short chapters, because I often don't have time during the week to write more than this. Especially if I'm trying to also write other things.

But enjoy this chapter, anyway. and I do appreciate every review, thank you all so very much!

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Breakfast in the Great Hall on a normal morning was filled with the sounds of several hundred chattering students, or moaning ones, depending on whether you were a morning person or not. On a normal morning, Al was generally looking forward to the day; he'd always be looking forward to seeing Scorpius, that was a given. On a normal morning Albus Potter had a best friend. His more recently normal mornings he also had a boyfriend.

When he entered the Great Hall this morning, he was greeted with the sight of no more than thirty students, barely six of them in Slytherin and, with a sense of relief, he realised that none of his group had stayed over Easter. He'd be facing no uncomfortable questions today at least.

He'd stopped in the doorway; initially uncertain, prepared to head back to his common room if he saw someone he'd rather not speak to. Now he was blocking the way of several other students; he could hear their sighs of impatience behind him. He was about to move when a voice, a hated voice, called out, "Should have known it was Potter holding up proceedings, he just loves having people lined up at his arse."

If Al hadn't been so numbed with grief over losing Scorpius, he might have had a ready retort for that cruel comment – actually, he knew that if it had come from anyone else he'd have probably laughed or at least been embarrassed or amused. But at this time, he barely had the energy to sigh.

Hands grabbed his shoulders and moved him to the side. Not Davies' luckily, or Al might have had to shrug him off. Or curse him. Or something. Posey Greengrass. Damn.

Davies voice came to him again from somewhere behind him as the students began to file past him and into the Hall. "Where's the poncy boyfriend, Potter? Did he grow a pair and leave you?"

Al flinched, but didn't move and didn't look for Davies, either. He kept telling himself to just ignore it and it would go away. Posey's arm rested on his for a moment. "Just stand there and don't speak, sweetie. You'll only be playing into his hands if you do. Anyone with half a brain can see you've been through something traumatic, so just stand there, let him go past and you can either go back to the common room, or show the bastard just how strong a Slytherin is and come and have breakfast with me."

His eyes shot up to hers and he saw her compassion behind the stiff mask. She was right. Slytherins didn't show their weaknesses to their enemies if they could help it, so he squared his shoulders and raised his chin. He was going to have to get over this and learn to live without Scorpius there beside him sooner or later, and it was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life, but no one could accuse him of being a coward and he'd be dammed if he'd let Ianyone/I see his anguish.

Especially a weak gutless wanker like Davies.

Al nodded and noted the nod of respect he saw Posey give him. He'd forgotten that she'd still be here as her mum was working over the break and out of the country.

"Good," she said, slipping her arm through his and urging him to walk towards their table.

Thankfully, she didn't say anymore until they sat down, as Al didn't think he could talk just yet. It was one thing to take a deep breath and stiffen his spine, but it was quite another to face questions as to what had happened to make him so upset. He wasn't sure he could speak about it without breaking down and that rather defeated the purpose of staying for breakfast and showing a dignified front to Davies.

Not that he felt much like eating anyway. But when they sat down, a plate appeared in front of him and he thought he should eat something. Bacon and eggs made it onto his plate, but he played with it more than ate it. Posey filled her plate with pancakes and syrup before speaking.

"Not sure what's happened to make you look like you've lost your best friend, and I'm not going to ask. Instead we can talk about something else."

Al's eyes had closed at her words; they hit too close to home. "Or we can not talk at all," Posey finished after seeing his expression.

"I'm sorry," Al said. "I'm just not ready to talk to anyone at the moment. Can we just…? Thank you for before."

"No problem," she replied, fork full of pancakes wavering on front of her face. "But you should eat something. Sometimes a full stomach helps. Either that or you throw up and that always helps." There was a slight smile on her face and he looked at her bemused. Then she winked and he smiled. He couldn't believe it himself; he smiled. "Especially if you managed to cover Davies in chewed up, partially digested food," she continued. "Might make him look human instead of like he'd just eaten a whole sour lemon."

Al couldn't help it; he laughed as he pictured himself throwing up all over Aaron Davies.

After a moment he stopped laughing and picked up a piece of bacon, looking at it thoughtfully. "I suppose food would help, I don't think I've eaten in a couple of days."

"No wonder you look dreadful," Posey replied, smile still in her eyes. He rolled his eyes and shoved the piece of bacon into his mouth and ate it. He found that once he started, his stomach decided it was hungry after all and so he continued eating until his plate was empty. He did feel better after all.

While he was eating he noticed that Posey was giving him little glances, and he was grateful for her concern, even though he didn't want to feel smothered by people worrying about him. But, one person's concern was nice. Perhaps he owed her some explanation.

"Posey, say you wanted to date someone your mother didn't like. What would she do?"

"You mean, would she tell me not to date them? Order me not to see them anymore?"

Al nodded.

"She knows better than to try and pull something like that with me," Posey responded scornfully.

"What if your whole family was against it? What if your whole family was threatening to fall apart if you dated this person?"

"My family?" Posey laughed. "Where have you been, Albus? I thought you knew. My mum is the black sheep of the family. She had me when she wasn't married and she refused to marry the pureblood nob they had lined up for her. She's all but been disowned by the Greengrass family."

"She never thought of bowing to what they wanted just to keep the peace and keep the family together?" he asked.

Posey snorted. "No, why would she? She's very independent, my mum, and she said she'd never have been able to keep up the pretence that she was happy being married to some guy forty years older than her and surrounded by a brood of however many children she could have before her health gave out and she had to stop. She said that would have been the end of the family anyway if they'd made her marry that bloke."

"I see," Al replied, thinking that their situations were different, obviously, as Al would be able to find more friends and more boyfriends or girlfriends. Posey's mum's situation would have been much worse than his own. So, for her to stand up to her family was the right thing, but for him, bowing to what they wanted was the right thing. "And does she regret it?"

"Oh no, Al," Posey answered. "Not for a minute. She always told me that if you really loved someone, you wanted them to be happy; you didn't try and force them to do something they didn't want."

Which really only reinforced Al's decision didn't it? He loved his mum and dad and he wanted them to be happy, so he shouldn't be forcing his mum to accept Scorpius when she didn't want to. Should he?

"Thanks," he said draining a glass of pumpkin juice. "I think I'll head back now."

A hand on his arm stopped him from standing. "Wait, Al, what's going on? Something's happened with your family."

He sighed. "Scorpius and I broke up," he said, finally. "It just got too much, with mum and all, and her telling me that I wasn't allowed to see him and…"

"Oh, Al, I'm sorry," she said, the concern in her voice belying the anger at his mother he knew she felt. They'd spoken about the way his mum had felt about Scorpius several times over the years. All his group of friends knew about that.

"I just felt that if we weren't friends anymore that everything would go back to how it was before and my family wouldn't be falling down around my ears."

"You're an idiot, Albus Potter. You've been friends with Scorpius since the first day here, you've put up with all of us ribbing you about being friends with a swot, you've put up with people like Davies having a shot at you at every turn and you've endured your family fighting over this for six years. Why now?"

"Because it was never going to end and the way that mum and dad were fighting, unless I did something, they were going to break up and it would have been all my fault. Now there is nothing for them to argue over anymore and things will go back to normal."

"Except that you will be, you are, devastated that you've had to give up Scorpius. Bloody hell, we all knew before the two of you did how you felt about each other. You were barmy about him for years before you started dating. How happy are you going to be without him?"

"It doesn't matter," Al replied in a small, yet determined voice. "Family comes first."

"I'll say it again, Al, you're an idiot. This will never work. Things will never go back to what they were, too much has been said and done now for that to ever happen."

It has to though, Al thought, or it will all have been for nothing.


	31. Chapter 31

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: I felt like playing the Superman theme music at the end of this one, lol.

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

There was something very levelling about school robes, Scorpius thought as he made his way to class. One head of dark hair looked much like another from the back. And from a distance. And if he didn't stare too hard and see that the step was too small or the spread of the shoulders too narrow or too wide. And if he hadn't memorised the exact height of Albus and the exact shade of the colour of his hair.

After a week of wanting to come face to face with Albus, just to see in his eyes how he was faring, but then also not wanting to just in case he was shut out and Albus was doing fine without him, or worse, not coping at all, he decided that he'd have to either approach Posey, see if she had any idea, or Lily. Though with Lily being in another House there didn't seem to be much point in doing that.

He took his seat in the Potions classroom, right up in the back where he usually sat with Al. But not this week. This week Al had chosen to join some of his housemates for classes. Scorpius had almost been resigned to this; had expected it really. At some point though, they were going to have to talk about all this. Scorpius' own need to settle things in his head; to find out exactly where he stood, guaranteed that sooner of later a face-to-face encounter would be required.

He made a mental note to speak to Posey in Astronomy later on as Al didn't have that class. That was going to be the key, he realised, catching Al's friends when he wasn't around. They may not be allowed to be friends anymore or boyfriends even, but that wouldn't ever stop Scorpius from caring about how Al was doing.

Before leaving home, his father had urged him to behave appropriately, however Scorpius didn't think he could ever see himself treating Al the way his dad treated Mr. Potter. And they were supposed to be friends. Of a sort. Perhaps Malfoys were expected to behave in a more dignified manner than everyone else, but stiff upper lip be damned, he was _hurting._ Still, it never did any harm to refrain from weeping, at least in public, anyway. His father would be _so_ proud.

Today's potion was something Scorpius could do in his sleep; he'd been preparing potions like these since third year. He attended his cauldron with half his mind, ensuring that the liquid was a bright cherry red as required. With the other half of his mind he watched Al working solidly with Finnigan. There was a slight frown on Al's face and his shoulders were hunched as if he knew Scorpius was looking at him. Scorpius could believe that – somehow Al had always known when Scorpius needed him. He remembered all those evenings spent researching a cure for his mother and Al would bring him hot chocolate and sit with him until the small hours of the morning and talk.

Who'd have ever thought that something so wonderful, a steady friendship become something more, could turn sour? Actually, it wasn't sour at all, just rather sad.

Al turned and looked at him then, and as if the room had suddenly stood still, Scorpius could hear his heart beating erratically in his chest. Al's ocean green eyes were just the same as he remembered, though they were lined with grief and something else he never thought to see in them. Loneliness.

He wouldn't be his father's son if he didn't feel one tiny flicker of indifference to Al's plight. One small, hurt part of him that wanted to say Al deserved the loneliness. But as their eyes held, Scorpius knew he'd only be feeling that as a defence against the pain and he really didn't think Al deserved this at all.

Mostly, he wanted to do something to make it right again.

Then he blinked and the moment was gone, Al turning back to Finnigan and tossing another ingredient into the cauldron.

.o0o.

When Scorpius entered the Astronomy classroom later, Posey was already seated and he hurried to take the seat next to her. She gave him a tired smile as she pulled her book from her bag and placed it on the desk. "I expect you're after information on how Albus is coping," she said.

Scorpius nodded. "I saw him earlier and he looks awful. How is he doing, really?"

Posey leant forwards and spoke softly. "Technically, I shouldn't be telling you anything. House loyalty and all that. But seeing that it's you…" She glanced around them and Scorpius leaned closer, worried now.

"He misses you. He's barely sleeping and I suppose you've seen the enthusiasm with which he eats at mealtimes."

Scorpius hadn't noted that. In trying not to get caught staring at Al, he'd satisfied himself seeing that he was eating, which he was, but obviously he hadn't noticed how much or how little that was. "Is there anything I can do?"

She looked at him closely, as if weighing him up, before nodding. "You and Al have been friends for six years. At first we all were surprised, considering who your fathers are, but we saw the both of you stick together and never give up. Al is being an arse over this; what he's doing won't change anything, won't mend his family."

"I know that, I tried to t—" Posey stopped him by glaring at him.

"What I was going to say," she continued, "is that he never once gave up on you, and you should not give up on him."

"What am I supposed to do? He made his decision; his family is the most important thing in his life, which I understand. Even if I do think he's going about trying to fix it in the wrong way, I have to respect his choices, don't I?"

"Well _you_ have a choice, Scorpius. You can use that Ravenclaw brain of yours and do what's best for Albus, or you can do nothing and prove his mother right – maybe Malfoys really are no good and will just end up hurting Potters."

Scorpius narrowed his eyes and glared at her. The dig at the worth of a Malfoy rankled, but at the look in her eye, he knew she was issuing him with a challenge rather than putting him down. "I'd never hurt him," Scorpius replied, voice deepened to almost a growl.

"Then fix him," she hissed in reply. "Do what you know is best for _him_ not what he thinks is best for his family."

What was best for Al, though? To have his wishes respected, regardless of how destructive they were to both himself and the rest of his family? Or to have someone care enough to ignore those wishes and just take care of him? He'd be dammed if he did and damned if he didn't. He turned and looked at Posey with new respect in his eyes. That was very sneaky, manipulating him like that.

Their professor walked in at that point and cut off any further discussion, but Scorpius didn't mind so much. As soon as class was over for the day, he had a recalcitrant Albus Severus Potter to find and win back. For the first time since they'd broken up Scorpius smiled a real smile.


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: OK, here's the awwwwww... and it's a longer chapter, too.

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Al was sitting in the common room in front of the fireplace, ready to receive a call from his mother. He wasn't at all sure he wanted to. On the one hand he'd sacrificed something extremely important to him in order to give his family the chance to be a real family again, but he resented that she'd made him feel like he had no choice and so he would be happy to avoid her altogether. Funny that. At the time he informed them all that they had achieved their wish, it had felt like the only thing to be done. That it was the right thing to do and then things could go back to what they had been.

Instead, things had collapsed to the point where he didn't want to speak to his mother, and, as Lily had passed on to him, where his dad had issued mum with an ultimatum. 'Grow up, stop being so selfish or I'm leaving' were the words he'd used, apparently. Although, Lily was so proud of dad that she might have exaggerated slightly, he was sure. Surely this wasn't something his dad would give up twenty-five years of marriage for? It was a bit humbling, really. And awful. Al didn't want to be the reason his parents separated. All this had been done to avoid that.

When he'd tried to firecall his dad and speak to him about it; he'd been told that this argument about Scorpius had really only been a symptom that things had been deteriorating for years and that he wasn't to worry his head about it and he should go and make up with Scorpius.

And now he was going to have to speak to her. His stomach clenched a little at that, he'd not spoken to her since he'd snuck off back to Hogwarts and not told anyone. She was going to resent him for being the cause of this split with dad, he knew it, and he was so laden with feelings of guilt and helplessness that his spark of anger at being punished so drastically for something that wasn't his fault flared hotly for a moment and then settled back to simmer quietly.

The longer he sat there the more nervous he became, until he finally checked his watch and saw that it was an hour past the time she said she'd be calling. He wasn't sure then if he should be worried something had happened to her, or thankful or disappointed that perhaps she couldn't see past her own prejudices long enough to save her marriage. Though, perhaps it was just late at night and she'd fallen asleep. Everyone else in his house was certainly in bed, Posey had shooed them all out earlier for some reason.

While he was contemplating what to do about his mum not calling, there was a soft cough behind him. When he turned, Scorpius was standing there, a smile on his face.

"Scorpius," Al said, croaking embarrassingly. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. How did you get in?"

"No questions, Al. I'm here because you need me to be." Scorpius sat down and pulled a cloth-covered trolley behind him.

"But—"

"No butts, either," Scorpius insisted, placing a finger on Al's lips to quiet him. "Everything will be answered all in good time."

A small shiver traveled up Al's spine when Scorpius touched his lips and he realised just how much he'd been missing simple things like just sitting beside him. He realised how much he'd submersed missing Scorpius into feeling bad about his family. Now he was here…but what if his mother found out?

"I can't, Scorpius. Look, I appreciate all th--" he was cut off by Scorpius' fingers again.

"I took the time to plan this. Posey gave me the password and Lily contacted your mum and told her that you were unavailable tonight, so you'll let me do this."

The look on Scorpius' face was so determined, that Al relented, feeling the ache of his loneliness melt just a fraction. Scorpius smiled, triumph flickering deep in his grey eyes for just a moment, before he nodded and took a deep breath. Al wondered why he seemed nervous now. He should be angry with Al for breaking up with him, instead he seemed to want to comfort him. Al sighed; he really should have known that he couldn't avoid Scorpius forever. It seemed that they were like magnets – kept bouncing back together, drawn by something larger than themselves.

"I'm going to start by saying that I don't _want_ to put any pressure on you." Scorpius gave a small smile. "But I will. Because…" Scorpius turned to him and took Al's hand in his, holding on to it. Al almost whimpered at the remembered, familiar touch, but clung on in return. "Because you're my family, too. As much as my mother and father, you're so much a part of who I am that I'm kind of lost without you."

The blush that flared across Scorpius' cheeks made Al smile. It felt like it had been a long time since he'd smiled. His free hand rose to caress Scorpius' heated cheek before dropping back onto his lap.

"So I wanted to remind you of what we are to each other. It might be selfish, and if you turn me away after tonight then I'll accept that, but I have to fight for you, Al."

Scorpius rose and removed the cloth from the top of the trolley. Sitting on it was his dad's pensieve. Al stared at it for a moment, his heart at the back of his throat. "You don't need to remind me of anything, Scorpius," Al protested. "I remember every kiss, every touch. I remember everything. When I close my eyes at night, all I can do is think of you. It doesn't change anything."

Smiling, Scorpius pulled Al to his feet. "But this is not about kisses and touches; this is about being friends. Come on."

Friends. Al inhaled deeply. Perhaps there was a chance that they could stay friends. His mum had accepted that – maybe she would again. He nodded as he exhaled and leant over the pensieve.

When he opened his eyes, Scorpius was beside him, holding his arm, and they were in a carriage on the Hogwarts Express looking at themselves as eleven year olds. Had they ever been that small?

"This was the first day we met? Remember that? Even then you were larger than life. Harry Potter's kid wanted to sit with me? Bollocks! I almost threw you out. But when you found out who I was you didn't have that look of someone who cares about what people said. Where's the Al gone who said that if they had a problem with us being friends then it was their problem and not yours?"

Al frowned watching his eleven year old self, full of the confidence of his words, angry at James for being an arse and feeling very satisfied with himself for finding a new friend; someone who didn't care that his name was Potter.

The mist swirled and Aaron Davies' face came into focus in one of the several run-ins they'd had with him. It was hard to tell which one this was, but then as the memory unfolded and they followed memory-Al and memory-Scorpius out of the Library and watched them running down the corridor laughing, Al remembered that it was the first time Davies had called Scorpius a ponce and they'd joked about him being Al's boyfriend. It made Albus smile. Even back then maybe subconsciously they'd known. Maybe not, but perhaps it was something to hold on to, an indication that there was something to Fate after all.

It was interesting to see these memories from Scorpius' point of view, too. He was able to see how he'd looked at his friend, could see how proud he'd been of Scorpius after he'd faced down the Red Baron; saw how embarrassed he'd been at getting Scorpius a Christmas gift, watched his amazed expression as Scorpius answered several really hard questions in class, seen how angry he'd looked when anyone threatened Scorpius and looked on with wonder as the emerging feelings began to be displayed.

"This one was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life," Scorpius whispered beside him and he jumped. Scorpius had allowed him to experience all these memories in peace and he'd almost forgotten he was there. This memory was set in the Ravenclaw common room, must have been the end of third year, because Scorpius' hair had been shorter then.

He watched the scene unfold, wondering why it had been so mortifying for Scorpius.

_"Scorpius! You arsehole stop running away and fucking talk to me!" Al yelled and grabbed Scorpius' arm, forcefully turning him round, making Scorpius lose his footing and stumble, falling directly against Al's chest. For a moment, a lifetime of a moment, Scorpius stared up at Al, who had caught him and was holding him steady._

_Scorpius gasped and pushed away. He stood a few paces away from Al who was looking at him expectantly. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I don't know…" His eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders sagged. _

"_Scorpius," Al said, no longer shouting, speaking softly, instead. "What's wrong?"_

_Scorpius shook his head. "I'm sorry, Al, I had no right to get angry. I was…I was jealous that the girls hadn't been looking at me," Scorpius' voice shook and his face was burning. _

"_You sure? I didn't want them looking at me. I'd thought I'd be going to the dance with you again this year, I hadn't thought of taking a girl, I just – " Al looked at him hopelessly._

_Scorpius swallowed. "It's alright. Ask one of them, they obviously want you to and you obviously want to."_

"_What will you do?"_

"_Oh, don't worry about me, I'll either go on my own or I'll not go at all. I still have a pile of books to read that father dug out of grandfather's old library to help in researching mother's illness." _

'_It won't be the same without you being there. Please come. Ask one of the other girls, you're not too bad looking for a bloke and I'm sure one of them will go with you." Al was pleading. _

"_We'll see," Scorpius said smiling, though it was a pretty weak smile. "I have to go, Al, I need to get a book I forgot," Scorpius said, obviously wanting to leave more than anything else in the world. _

"_All right, I'll see you in class then," Al said, giving Scorpius a doubtful smile as he left the common room. _

_Scorpius dropped onto a couch and flung his hands over his face. _

Al watched all this not understanding why it was so embarrassing. So Scorpius had been jealous, so what?

Then he could have kicked himself. _Oh._

"That was the day I realised what I felt for you was more than just friendship," Scorpius said softly beside him. "The end of third year, when I was thirteen years old." He gave a soft laugh. "I've loved you for three years and I'm not willing to give you up. Not without a fight. But if friendship is all you feel safe giving me now, then I'll take that and be grateful for it, until things change."

Al couldn't remember Scorpius _ever_ being so expressive about his feelings for Al. Not even when they'd started dating. Al was moved. Deeply. Scorpius must be really serious about it all.

Of course he was, when was Scorpius ever not serious about something?

And all through the memories, Al hadn't said a word; barely been able to trust himself to not ramble embarrassingly on about nothing, let alone say something deep and meaningful. Besides, Scorpius had wanted him to keep quiet so he could get through this, so he let him. But the memories had certainly reawakened his determination to at the very least keep his Scorpius as a friend.

Scorpius took Al's arm again and returned them to the common room. Al almost laughed; it felt odd coming back here finding nothing had changed when he felt like inside his whole perspective on things had altered in some fundamental way. He sat back on the couch and smiled as Scorpius lifted the rest of the cloth and handed him a steaming hot mug of hot chocolate, before picking the other up for himself and settling himself down beside Al, shoulders, thighs and knees touching.

That was almost Al's undoing and the tears stung the corner of his eyes as he remembered the countless nights he'd done this exact thing for Scorpius when he'd been looking for a cure for his mother. At the time he'd done it because he wanted to make sure Scorpius was all right; now he realised what an incredible feeling of love and comfort and support had come from this simple act of sharing a cup of hot chocolate late at night and just being given the opportunity to talk. Or not, as needed.

Al took a deep breath and leant closer into Scorpius' warm shoulder, grateful beyond words, and began to talk then, telling Scorpius everything.


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Author's note: I had planned on writing longer chapters, last week for example, but this one needs to be short in preparation for a rise in the rating of this story for next week. Hmmm, love it when the Potter men get all growly. heh.

I also wanted to say that I've only now discovered that I can reply to some of the reviews... rolls eyes at self So, I'll try and respond to all reviews, because I really do appreciate them! kisses

Enjoy!

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Eating cold roast beef sandwiches in the common room whilst waiting for your mother to fire call, instead of dining in the Great Hall with your friends and boyfriend, was not a particularly nice way to spend a lunch time, Al thought. Especially when he was nervous about what exactly was going to be said in this discussion, and tired after not having slept much the night before. He and Scorpius had stayed up most of the night just talking. He'd not realised just how much he'd missed having Scorpius beside him – well he knew how he'd ached, knowing that the solid presence of Scorpius from his life had left a huge gaping hole – but he now realised how much he appreciated having someone that knew him inside out give him the opportunity to express what he needed, to help him understand things about himself without judging or telling him what to do or think or feel.

Giving up on the sandwich in disgust, he tossed it back onto the plate and washed the mouthful down with some pumpkin juice. Where was she, anyway?

"Al? You there?"

At last! Al stood and moved to the fireplace. "I'm here, mum."

"How are you, dear?"

Al smiled. His mum was searching his face, looking carefully at him, obviously expecting to find him fading away or some such nonsense. The fact that only the day before he'd felt like death warmed up wasn't lost on him, but since finding his determination last night he had a different outlook and he wasn't going to be afraid to show her. "I'm fine, mum."

"Yes, well, I don't know what your father was talking about when he said that you were upset." She was frowning and thoughtful. "It makes me doubt everything he's said to me in the last couple of days. Al, you have no idea of what he's been saying." Al wanted to interrupt her but as he opened his mouth she just kept going. "I mean, anyone can see you're happy with your decision to put the family first and keep us together. I know I was proud of you making the right choice and doing what was best for the family. I can't understand what he's talking about."

"Mum –"

"Albus, don't interrupt me. No, I can see that you're quite happy and reconciled to your decision. It was obviously the right one and I'm very proud of you. Whilst I know that family has done nothing but cause trouble for me and my family, I understand that it must have been hard for you to give him up and I'm sorry for that. I gritted my teeth for enough years when you were friends and tried even harder when your sister was dating him all because I was trying to do what your father said. But no more. It's time-"

"Stop it!" Al yelled. His mother shut up in surprise, then as her face turned cross at being interrupted Al took his chance and got in before she started again. "I can't do this anymore, mum. I'm going to tell you how it is and if you don't like it, that's not my fault and I refuse to be made a scapegoat for your marital troubles with dad."

_Oh my god,_ Albus thought. He'd never spoken to his mother like that before! There was nothing quite like flying by the seat of your pants though, and he wondered if he was going to crash and burn, or if this might all be for the best.

"Whatever happened between you and the Malfoys was more than twenty years ago! Years and years before I was even born, before Scorpius was even born. How the f-hell can he be held responsible for them?" Al almost tripped over his language, and if anything was to get his mother's anger going then bad language was it. "They were before my time, before his time and have nothing what so ever to do with us. Nothing."

Al stopped for a breath, and to think of what to say next, although his temper was beginning to build up and he was getting angry.

"I don't care, Albus! He was raised by that family and in that atmosphere and -"

Al cut her off. "I don't care. He hasn't ruined me, made me into a bad person, caused me to be a troublemaker or anything like that. He's not a bad influence on me, nor is he going to be. He's been my best friend in a way I can never explain to you, for six years and now he's more than that to me and there is no way in hell that I'm going to give him up for someone that has no idea of what makes me happy."

"Your family should make you happy," she hissed.

"My family used to make me happy, until they decided to make me feel worthless by doubting my judgement and making me responsible for causing a split between you and dad. I don't need you to tell me what to do, tell me who my friends can be or who my lovers will be. You don't have that sort of say in my life and I am tired of you making excuses for why you and dad can't stand the sight of each other!"

Oh shit, he hadn't meant to say that. His mother's face closed up. "He said that?" she asked in a small voice.

"No, he didn't, but that's how we see it. All three of us. We want to put the past behind us and move on, mum. I know you lost a brother, but that wasn't Scorpius' fault, nor was it dads."

"It's just so hard to… I'll need to think this over, Albus. In the meantime I still want you to stay away from that Malfoy boy until I've made up my mind."

"Mum!" Albus exclaimed angrily. "You haven't been listening to me. You. Have. No. Say. In. Who. My. Friends. Are." Al's voice hardened. "This is not up for negotiation any longer. I have dad, Lily and James' support in this and I have Scorpius back in my life and I refuse to let him go again. What you decide to do is irrelevant. Scorpius is mine and that's all there is to it."

With that, Al turned and stalked from the room, growling softly under his breath and clenching his fists. Where was Scorpius? He needed to make damned sure that Scorpius knew whom he belonged to, too.


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: I really loved writing this one. Hope you enjoy the higher rating.

have fun

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Scorpius had tried, he'd really tried to eat his meal, but the dumplings kept sticking to the roof of his mouth and making it difficult for him to swallow. He was nervous about Al's talk with his mother. No matter what Al promised; there was still a small niggling doubt that Mrs. Potter would be able to talk him around to her way of thinking again. It made him so angry the way she'd tried to manipulate Al's emotions, and though he completely understood how important family was, he'd be lying if he didn't admit any respect he had for her had now gone.

For about the tenth time during the meal, he took a deep breath and told himself to trust Al. Then he gave up on the food as a bad idea.

"You should try and eat something," Lily said from beside him. He was grateful she'd asked to sit near him, but she'd pestered him on every mouthful.

"I can't. It all tastes like glue," Scorpius replied.

"Don't tell the House-elves, they might all feel compelled to iron themselves or something."

She giggled beside him and despite himself, he found the corners of his mouth curling upwards. "Don't worry," she added in a more serious tone. "He's come round and seen sense now, he's not going to stuff it up again. If he does, then you and I will date again and rub it in his godammned face every single second of the day."

Sometimes he wondered what he'd done to deserve a friend like Lily. "You have your own boys to date, Lily Potter, and one of these days we're going to talk about one boy in particular."

"We are?" she replied, raising an eyebrow when he turned to look at her.

Taking in the defiant expression in her eyes, he smiled. "I'm not about to lecture you on who you should or should not date, I just want you to be aware of what he's like."

He saw her looking across the room at the boy in question and he sighed. "But you can't help who your heart wants, can you?"

She turned sad eyes back to him. "I see a different side of him when he's with Megan. I know how bad he is with you and Al, but he's never been like that to me, I just--"

A loud crash echoed around the Great Hall and Scorpius looked toward the main doors where the noise had come from. Al was standing there, searching the room. Lily whispered beside him. "Scorpius? I think you should run. Right now."

"Why?" he asked. Al didn't particularly look angry or anything. Then their eyes met and a bolt of something shot through Scorpius and flipped his stomach over on itself. _Shit_. Al's eyes were positively glowering. Even from this distance, Scorpius felt them pinning him.

"Because I don't imagine that what he wants to do with you is allowed in the Great Hall at lunch time," Lily said softly.

"Or any time," Scorpius agreed, standing. Al was stalking – Scorpius blinked, definitely stalking – across the room towards him and Scorpius felt _hunted_. His breathing increased and the small amount of food he'd been able to ingest was doing weird things in his stomach. He swallowed as he looked at Al, _his_ Al, who had his mouth pursed as if he was angry, but Scorpius knew the expression to be resolve. Al was single-minded like that.

Al was also sending all the blood in Scorpius' body straight to his groin.

"I'd say good luck, Scorpius, but I don't think you're going to need it," came Lily's voice from beside him. He'd almost forgotten she was there – that anyone at all was in the room with them – Al's penetrating gaze had captured him and made everything else disappear.

"Right," Scorpius whispered, just before he dragged his eyes away from Al. He gave her a quick smile and then headed as fast as he could out a side door, knowing Al would follow him.

There was only one thing on his mind as he exited – to find somewhere secluded.

All right, two things – he hadn't ever thought he could get so achingly _hard_ from just a look.

Now he knew better and he was as shaking like a leaf, as this would be a first in their relationship. Kissing was as far as they'd ever gone before, Scorpius not wanting to rush Al. Now it looked like Al was going to take charge and just _take_. Adrenalin arousal tingled the tips of his fingers and made his legs tremble as they took him down a secluded corridor. Fuck. Part of him wished Al would hurry up and catch up to him; he wanted to feel his boyfriend hard against his thigh, perhaps their erections even rubbing against each other. The rest of him wondered if he was going to make a complete fool of himself and come as soon as Al touched him.

He thought he could hear music in the background, but it was just the thumping of his heart. A soft whimper escaped from his lips as he slowed to a stop, and waited, panting, desperately longing…

He didn't have to wait long, which was just as well; the anticipation building up in Scorpius was causing him to bite his lip harder each second. But then Al's hand was heavy and hot on his shoulder and he turned to face his boyfriend, only to find himself shoved up against the wall of the corridor, protruding pieces of stonework stabbing into his back.

"Al," he breathed as he stared deep into Al's green eyes, which were dark with purpose.

Al kissed him then, hard and painfully, crushing lips between teeth. And Scorpius loved it. He now had Al's hard body pressing against him, securing him to the wall and he would have wrapped his arms around Al and held him tighter, closer, but Al had grabbed his wrists and was holding them back where they scraped against the stones behind him. Scorpius was pinned in every way possible and he writhed at the restriction only to bring their arousals into explosive contact.

Al pulled back from the kiss a fraction; only enough to breathe and give Scorpius room to look at his face. Scorpius could see the need and the determination, but he could also see the question. As an answer Scorpius rocked his hips and rubbed their cocks together, whispering. "Don't you dare stop now."

"Scorpius," Al groaned and buried his face in Scorpius' neck while he thrust against him. Scorpius, still pinned with the weight of Al's body could only try and match it.

"I take it things went all right with your mother," he said, gasping as Al's teeth claimed his neck.

Al stopped, fractionally. "I'm standing here as hard as I've ever been in my life, rubbing my cock against yours and you're thinking about my mother?"

"No, I just--" A couple of brutal thrusts had Scorpius whimpering helplessly as the friction threatened to send him screaming into an orgasm.

"Good, because I don't want to think about anything but making sure you know you're mine." Al was growling as he continued his ruthless thrusting and the positively sinful biting of Scorpius' neck.

"Yes," Scorpius replied in what he would be horrified to remember later as a sob of relief. He didn't care that they were both clumsy with inexperience and desperation; he didn't care that the stones jabbing into his back would leave bruises. At the moment, all he could think of was that he had Al all over him and that he urgently needed to come as he was on the verge of falling apart.

Then things seemed to happen crazily fast. Al moaned, "Mine," and tensed all over, gripping Scorpius wrists so roughly and pressing his cock into Scorpius' groin so forcefully that Scorpius knew even if he wanted to fall he couldn't. The sudden wet warmth at his groin and Al's ragged breathing in his ear was enough and he came hard, whimpering and arching his back as much as he could.

After a few moments, Al released Scorpius' wrists and Scorpius wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and clung to him.


	35. Chapter 35

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Aftermath...cliffhanger!!

enjoy

jamie

xxxx

* * *

"Rule number one, Al." Scorpius breathed into his ear. "Never ever be embarrassed about anything we do." His voice comforted Al who was, at that moment, awkwardly hiding his face in Scorpius' neck.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I said so." The words were accompanied by a soft kiss on the shell of his ear.

Al gave a small laugh. "How can you always tell what I'm feeling?"

"Your face is burning into my neck, so I am assuming you're feeling rather uncomfortable about what we just did."

"A bit." Al pulled back, suddenly aware of the sticky cool wetness in his trousers. "I didn't give you much choice about it."

"Did I tell you to stop? No. In fact, I specifically remember demanding that you not stop, so cease all thoughts along that line."

"You're fine with it then?" Al was feeling better about the situation, but, even so, he'd rather their first sexual explorations had been in a place a bit more private and a bit more horizontal.

"Are you kidding?" Scorpius' disbelief interrupted his musing. "I might have to insist you attack me like that more often. At least once a week."

Al looked into Scorpius' eyes and saw only truth and admiration. _His_ Scorpius. As he lost and then found himself in those beautiful grey eyes, Al realised that all his doubts about how he'd feel being deeply involved with another boy had disappeared when he decided to fight for what he wanted. It was liberating in a way and as Scorpius raised his hands to cup Al's face, Al smiled, finally unreservedly allowing his love to shine through.

"Something tells me that won't be a problem," Al replied, leaning in to capture Scorpius' lips with his own. Kissing Scorpius had always been wonderful, but now with the promise of kisses forever and a new, deeper bond between them, Al felt each minute movement of their lips, thrilled at the warm puffs of air that tickled his cheeks as they kissed, and wished that time would stand still to preserve this perfect moment.

Eventually, too soon, they parted, lips attempting to cling together refusing to separate.

"So, what caused the sexy, growly Albus to stalk me? Not that I'm complaining mind, I just would like to know for future reference."

Albus laid gentle kisses across Scorpius' nose and cheeks, while Scorpius' arms slid up around his neck. "I stood up to my mother," Albus replied flatly. He would rather not talk about that, though he knew there would be repercussions at some point.

Scorpius sighed and grabbed his wrist. "Come on. We should find somewhere a little less public to clean up and talk about this."

"I don't want to talk about it. I've done nothing but think about the situation for weeks and we spoke about it all last night. We'd just be going over the same things again. It's done and over and whatever happens now, I'm not giving you up for anyone. I could do with being cleaned up, though."

While Scorpius stared at him, Al just stared right back. Then Scorpius sighed and dragged him off down the corridor, looking for the boys bathroom so they could clean up. And Al really needed to clean up, things were pretty sticky in his trousers and he knew Scorpius was in the same situation.

They'd actually been lucky that no one had caught them. This wasn't generally a completely unused corridor, not by any stretch of the imagination. But truthfully, Al hadn't even given it a thought; he'd been too intent on Scorpius. Had he really just got himself off by rubbing against Scorpius shamelessly _out in public?_ A little thrilling blush stole across his face again, and he could feel the burning in his cheeks.

Too bad his mother hadn't seen that. It would have been obvious just how he and Scorpius felt about each other. Oh, shit no, on second thoughts no son should _ever_ get caught doing that with another boy in front of his mother.

He shuddered as Scorpius pulled him into a bathroom. "I just had the most awful thought," he admitted.

"What?" Scorpius asked, pulling his wand from his pocket.

"I just thought if mum had seen that it would have been obvious how we felt about each other."

Al grinned as Scorpius scrunched up his face. "Don't even joke about that, Al," he protested. "She'd probably feel even more justified in trying to keep us apart. She'd think I was sexually corrupting her perfect, innocent son and then she'd start to wonder what I'd done to Lily!"

That made Al's grin fade. "You didn't…?"

For a moment Scorpius just glared in disbelief at Al as if he couldn't quite believe what he'd heard. Then he pursed his lips. "I'm going to ignore that blatantly stupid question and hope that it's because of the stress of speaking to your mother and not because you actually think I'd do anything with your sister." Scorpius aimed cleaning spells at both of them. "Especially as you know we were always only friends."

"I'm sorry…" Al started. And he was; he knew better than to think badly of Scorpius. That would be something his mother and her family would do.

"Save it. Just don't speak to me for a few minutes while I stop myself from hexing your bits useless."

For a moment, Al wasn't sure if he was serious or not. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, thinking better of it. Not that he thought Scorpius would actually hex his bits off, but he'd asked not to be spoken to for a few minutes and Al would respect that. Damn, he should learn to stop opening his mouth and saying stupid stuff before thinking.

Scorpius stalked over to the basin and washed his hands, Al followed and they both cleaned up in silence. Scorpius watched him while he was drying his hands, and it wasn't until their eyes met that Scorpius gave him a small smile that told him things would be all right.

Al grinned as Scorpius moved into his arms. "No point in me hexing your bits. At least not until I've had a chance to sample them in the flesh," he said, a suggestive smirk on his face.

"I think that could be arranged," Al replied, wondering how long it would be before they progressed to sex. The thought of sex with Scorpius had interesting repercussions in his trousers.

"Good," said Scorpius, drawing Al into a deep kiss.

Al hummed and kissed him back, once more experiencing the feeling that time should stand still and freeze frame this kiss.

They were so caught up in their kiss the sound of the door opening went unnoticed.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Al would recognize that sneering voice anywhere.


	36. Chapter 36

Disclaimer: Not mine.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took so long to get up. I was moving and school and like a hundred other horrid things were happening...Anyway all is good now and I am back. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

_"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"_

_Al would recognize that sneering voice anywhere._

Scorpius sighed and quickly stepped away from Al. Not that he had any problems with the school knowing about him and Al, and truth be told, he rather thought Al's performance in the Great Hall not half an hour ago might have clued a few people into what was going on. No, he didn't mind people knowing, but Al might not be ready for the repercussions.

"What do you want, Davies?" Scorpius jumped in first hoping that Davies would satisfy himself with some superior smug remarks and then disappear.

"I had planned on using the facilities," he said, indicating the urinals. "But who knows what diseases I might pick up after you two faggots have used them." Davies' face was all scrunched up in disgust and for the first time Scorpius was afraid of what he might do. If his mates were here to back him up, Scorpius was fairly certain that blood would be shed.

As it was, Scorpius made the decision to be constantly aware of who was around him from now on. It wouldn't take much to catch either one of them alone and then who knew how bad it would get.

He thought Al knew better than to retaliate but apparently not.

"Oh, that's a really smart observation, Davies. Been working hard on that one have you? Not that it surprises me, you'd have to be the dumbest sack of dogshit I've ever met."

Scorpius groaned. Al was just playing into his hands by attacking him like that. Didn't he know that by now? "Al…" he said, placing his hand on Al's arm in warning. But Al shook him off and Scorpius was left watching Davies become redder and more furious and Al preparing for a fight.

"You'd better watch it, Potter. One day when you least expect it, there I'll be giving you what you deserve."

"And what's that?" Al moved to stand in front of Scorpius, arms crossed, defiant. Like he was protecting him. While he appreciated the thought, Scorpius frowned because he didn't need protecting from the likes of Davies. Scorpius crossed his own arms and stepped up beside Al.

"Something you won't forget in a hurry." Davies sneered back. "You filthy fucking faggots sicken me and you shouldn't be allowed in a decent school. A dick is supposed to go in a cunt, not up some other guy's arsehole."

Scorpius couldn't help himself, he laughed. Al was furious, he could tell by the waves of tension he could feel rolling off him, but he really couldn't help laughing. Hopefully it would help Al settle.

"Oh, really?" Scorpius asked. "Thanks for that, Davies. You've sorted us out now. I can't believe we didn't know that, Al."

Both Al and Davies glared at Scorpius in confusion. Scorpius continued. "Well, now you'll have to let us thank you properly. You're so clever, Davies, it's a wonder you're not in Ravenclaw with me. You're amazing, like sunshine on a cloudy day..." he hardly knew what he was saying, only that it was confusing both Al and Davies and that was a good thing. Perhaps there was a way out of this after all.

"Scorpius, what the fuck are you on about?"

Or maybe not.

"You'd better keep your _girlfriend _under control there, Potter."

"Shut the fuck up, Davies." Al was even more angry now. And Scorpius had lost his desire to laugh his way out of this situation. He wasn't a _girl!_

"Do I need to remind you that there are two of us here and you are on your own, Davies?" Al growled and Scorpius' stomach fluttered. He just knew he was going to have this same reaction every time Albus growled. He wondered if it was going to be a problem getting Al worked up enough to growl.

Davies' glance went from one to the other. "I could take on both of you poofters any time."

Before Scorpius realised, his wand was out and at Davies' throat. Al followed a split second later before Davies could even react.

"I think you had better watch your filthy mouth, Davies." Scorpius said calmly. "And get yourself out of here before Al decides that the loss of house points are worth it and curses you with something awful."

And just like the big dumb coward he was, Davies discovered that he didn't want to take Al on after all. He left the bathroom as quickly as he'd entered, Al yelling after him "And stay away from my sister!"

Al turned to Scorpius. "What was all that?"

"I was trying to get away from this confrontation without a fight."

"I'm not scared of Davies, Scorpius. I'll never let him hurt us."

Scorpius sighed and moved into his arms, wondering if perhaps they'd been sorted into the wrong houses after all.

"So why did you yell after him about staying away from Lily? You know he doesn't even know how she feels about him."

"Well he can just stay away from her."

You're going to have to warn her, Al. Now he knows you care he'll go after her and she's a girl who fancies herself in love with him." Didn't Al see that?

"Well he won't get too far," Al said, and Scorpius could feel him smiling against his shoulder, so he pulled back and looked into Al's smug face.

"Why not?"

"While you were busy reading him the riot act, I was cursing him. Whenever he thinks about romancing my sister – anyone really, he'll feel violently ill and have to run to the bathroom.

Scorpius grinned. His Al was definitely a Slytherin after all.


	37. Chapter 37

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Notes: Enjoy! And thanks for all the reviews, too.

jamie

xxxxx

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"You sitting with us today, Lils?"

"Thought I might check up and see how my big brother and his paramour are going," Lily replied, grinning and giving Scorpius a huge wink. "No one will object to me sitting here, will they?"

Scorpius laughed. "Lily, you've been sitting here on and off for the past four years, why would they bother now?"

"Well, " she said, squeezing in between the two boys. "After Al's performance at lunch, I rather think they're expecting front row seats at a more revealing show."

Scorpius looked around at the students and sure enough, there were several who were scowling at Lily. He blushed, wondering if everyone knew what they'd done earlier. Not that he regretted it; he would never regret anything he and Al shared. But they were private things for he and Al alone, not for the whole school to bear witness to.

Of course, next time they should probably be a little more circumspect in their actions. Anyone could have seen them.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Al asked. Scorpius could hear the embarrassment in his tone and when he looked up at Al he frowned when he caught his eye, mouthing "No regrets."

"No, not that bad. Not if you want to call making most of the girls so jealous they want to curse Scorpius," Lily replied, laughing at their red faces.

"They did not," Al protested.

"They did, Al. The rest of them wished they were Scorpius."

Al hung his head in his hands. Scorpius was glad that they hadn't dished up the food yet, or Al probably would have planted his face in his dinner.

"Bad luck for them, then that there is only one of me and I have a sexy boyfriend who hunted me down and had his wicked way with me." All Scorpius' attempt to make Al laugh accomplished, was to make him groan and bury his head deeper into his hands. Lily whacked him on the shoulder.

"Grow up, brother of mine. You two have something worth being smug over. So what if they know, or think they know what happened? So what? They're all just jealous they're not getting any."

"And thus, the reason for you sitting in between us would be?" Scorpius joked.

"One of the girls set up a recording device under the table. Someone thinks that you two can't keep your hands off each other and they wanted to watch. Personally, I can think of better things to perve over than my brother giving his boyfriend a hand job under the table."

Scorpius' mouth dropped open and he stared at Lily who grimaced and lifted his chin to shut it. "That is even worse, Scorpius dear. You'll give them ideas."

"Lily!" Al exclaimed. "Enough! You shouldn't even know all this stuff, let alone make jokes about it!"

"You two are too easy." Lily sighed and reached for a plate of food that had appeared on their table. "What is this?" she asked poking a piece of meat with a fork.

Scorpius took a look and picked up a smaller slice with his fork, lifting it to his nose and smelling it. "I have no idea, rabbit maybe?"

"Hm…rabbit. I haven't had that before. They say it tastes like chicken."

"I've never heard that," Scorpius replied. "My dad always said it was stronger, gamier than chicken, but that it was food for servants, so I've never had it, either."

Lily shrugged and put the piece on her plate, as did Scorpius. "You not eating, Al?" he asked, because Al was still sitting there with his head in his hands.

"Don't think I can show my face," he said dejectedly.

Lily laughed and Scorpius had to bite his lip to stop him from laughing, too. "They'll all just gush over you if you let it get to you and then I will be obliged to hex several of them after they make me listen to their opinions on how cute you are and how adorable you look when you blush and get all flustered."

Al snuck a glance at Lily, and Scorpius could see the tell tale smile lines around his eyes.

"You know how I hate listening to comments on how adorable and cute you are. You're my brother, Al, no girl should have to put up with that." Scorpius heard the teasing laughter in her voice along with the fondness.

Al took his hands away from his face and smiled properly. "In the interests of you not being docked house points for hexing half the fourth year girls, then."

"It's the least you could do," Lily added, tasting her rabbit. "Hm, not bad," she said. "Eat up boys, you need to replace all that energy you used at lunch time."

He could clip her over the ear in exasperation, but he was too glad that he had Lily as a friend and that he and Al had her support. Instead, he tucked into his dinner deciding two things. Firstly that his dad was deluded; the rabbit was really tasty even if it didn't taste of chicken, and secondly, now was not the time to bring up the subject of Davies. There would be plenty of time for that.


	38. Chapter 38

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

* * *

Author's Note: Enjoy!

jamie

xxxx

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"Have you thought about what we're going to say to Lily?" Albus asked, running his fingers through Scorpius' hair. They were in the Ravenclaw common room, Scorpius was lying on the couch with his head on Al's lap.

"I thought you'd taken care of that with that nifty hex you fired at him yesterday," Scorpius replied.

"I did, but… what if it didn't work?"

"Al," Scorpius said, frowning up into his face. "I've never known you to miss a hex yet. You'd have your Slytherin membership revoked if you messed one up. Stop worrying, Lily will be safe from Davies."

"But what if she's not?" He couldn't keep the worry from his voice. The whole situation was rather confusing for him anyway. Lily had been such a great supporter of his relationship with Scorpius that he felt like a total heel for wanting her to not have this crush on Davies. But Davies was a total arsehole and not worth the ground she walked on let alone good enough to be her boyfriend. He worried that he might have put some ideas into Davies' head with his demand for him to stay away from Lily as up until then he was fairly sure that Davies didn't even know Lily existed other than as a friend of his sisters.

And where did Davies get off being such a cunt to himself and Scorpius but normal to everyone else? Was it just them Davies hated, or was it some deeper nature of his showing through a pretty well honed veneer? All he could hope was that Lily would outgrow this crush, and if she didn't, that he and Scorpius were wrong about Davies. But he didn't think that was the case.

After all Lily had been through helping them out, he just didn't want her to get hurt by a jerk like Davies. And somehow his mum would find a way to blame him. Not James, who should take his share of keeping an eye on their sister but decided he was above all that looking after younger siblings thing, stating that if she couldn't look after herself in a place that was as safe as Hogwarts, then she was in more trouble than he was capable of taking care of.

Scorpius' hand snaked up behind his neck and drew him down. "We'll make sure she's all right, now kiss me before I think you're deliberately ignoring me."

Pushing aside his worries for the moment, Al smiled down into his boyfriend's eyes. They really were beautiful. He ignored the few sniggers that came from Scorpius' housemates and bent down to kiss him. Scorpius was right; they'd take care of Lily. The hex would have worked and Davies would want nothing to do with Lily on a romantic level.

The next day, he wasn't so sure. When he arrived at breakfast, he spotted Davies sitting next to his sister Megan, while Lily sat opposite and gazed starry eyed at him. God, if she drooled anymore her breakfast plate would be flooded, Al thought.

He watched them, frowning as he mechanically ate his oatmeal. Davies was smiling at Lily now! Smiling! He felt Scorpius slip into the seat beside him.

"Now do you think my hex worked?" he hissed.

"Good morning to you, too," Scorpius relied huffily. "What are you talking about?"

"Look at them!" Al pointed and Scorpius directed his gaze accordingly. "He's smiling at her and having breakfast with them. How many times have you known him to do that before?"

"It's a coincidence, that's all it is," Scorpius said. "I have complete faith in your hexing ability, which means he is merely being polite as he has breakfast with his sister. Besides, just looking around the room, it appears that none of Davies' classmates are here. He probably just didn't want to sit on his own."

"He's causing trouble deliberately," Al insisted. "I know he is, I can feel it, Scorpius."

Scorpius sighed beside him. "If it makes you feel any better, we can talk to Lily after breakfast, just to make sure she knows what she's doing."

"Yes, I think I will do that."

"She won't thank you, you know? She'll likely kick you in the shin for interfering."

"She's my sister she'll listen to me," Al replied, determined that she _would_ listen to him.

Scorpius slipped his hand onto Al's thigh under the table and they continued eating their breakfast, Al throwing Davies dark, thunderous glances across the room.

When Lily rose and left the Great Hall, Al grabbed Scorpius' wrist and dragged him along, following.

"Lily," Al called, causing her to stop and turn, a big smile breaking out on her face when she saw who it was.

"And here's my two favourite boys," she said, making Al cringe. "What do you want?"

"Just that I saw you having breakfast with Davies."

"And?" She was still smiling.

"And," Al started. "You should be careful, that's all. You know what he's like."

Lily's eyes darted between his and Scorpius', troubled. "You're not thinking of telling me to stay away from him are you?"

"Would you?" Al asked knowing it was a stupid thing to say, but unable to help himself. Scorpius groaned beside him.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, Al," she replied. "No, bugger it, I am. In the first place, Aaron was having breakfast with Megan. Secondly, he's never been anything but nice around me and lastly, where do you get off telling me who I can see or who I can't? You are the last person I know that should be judging people. With all you've been through just to be with Scorpius – mum and dad's marriage is pretty much broken over this and there is a rift in the family a mile wide. I've supported you all the way along. And now you're trying to…" She broke off and poked a finger in his chest several times. "If I want to speak with, or date, or even fuck Aaron Davies then I will and I don't need to ask your permission."

She turned and walked away down the corridor and Al could see the tension and anger in her shoulders. He stood there rubbing the spot on his chest where her fingers had dug in.

"Well that didn't work, did it?" Scorpius said from beside him.


	39. Chapter 39

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, I missed a week, sorry. but here it is. Hopefully you'll enjoy it. I love the last line haha.

jamie

xxxx

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Over the next several days, Scorpius and Albus tried as much as they could to keep an eye on Lily and Davies. It was hard seeing that they were in a different year to Lily and even different classes than Davies. Al had asked James to keep an eye on Lily in the Gryffindor common room and Davies was a Hufflepuff so they had Bobby Longbottom on guard for those times he was in their common room.

Scorpius knew that despite all this, Al felt there was too much time where both Lily and Davies were not under the eye of any of them. It was beginning to worry Scorpius how much time Al devoted to checking up on his sister and Davies. And, when he considered the change in the way Lily acted around Al after their little run in, he wasn't surprised Al was being overly cautious.

In the intervening week, Lily had not said one word to Al, no matter how hard he'd tried to apologise for what he'd said. Of course, he still believed that Lily should stay far away from Davies, but he'd realised he had no real say. All he could do was remain vigilant in his desire to protect his sister.

For her part, Lily was making an even harder effort to gain the attention of Aaron Davies. Scorpius knew it frustrated Al to the extent that several times Scorpius had found himself hard and aching at the sound of Al's growls. On more than one occasion, Scorpius had had to drag Al from the Great Hall and find a secluded alcove somewhere, where he could inhale Al's growls as they frotted frantically up against the wall.

Not that Scorpius minded using Al's temper to experience that heady _claimed _feeling at all and, in truth, Scorpius found himself hard more often than not just from looking at Al these days.

Sticky underwear aside, Scorpius knew that things couldn't continue on the way they had been. He'd have to seek out Lily and try and speak to her himself. The tension between the three of them was even spilling over into their other friendships and the look Davies had in his eyes was becoming more and more predatory. Scorpius had a bad feeling about that look. Lily's tactics were obviously working and it was becoming clearer that perhaps Al's hex hadn't worked after all.

Things almost came to a head when he saw Lily and Davies walking into the Great Hall for breakfast one morning. They were walking so closely they could have been holding hands. Scorpius could only thank Merlin that Al was running late, when he walked through the doors shortly after Lily and Davies. A minute earlier and there might have been hell to pay.

As it was, Al frowned when he saw the two of them sitting at the same table eating breakfast and chatting to each other.

"I think I'll go and see Professor Tunbridge," Al said, grumbling as he threw himself into the seat beside Scorpius.

"Why?" Scorpius asked, before placing a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"Obviously, I fail at charms. I need more tutoring."

"Al, I've never known one of your charms or hexes to fail. It's just not in you."

"But look at him! It's not enough! He's still sitting there talking to my sister like he's the worlds nicest guy and we both know he's plotting something in revenge."

"What if he is a nice guy behind all the hatred he has for us? What if he genuinely does like Lily? We can't tell what he's feeling because everything we know of him is from the way he's treated us."

"It's all my fault. He didn't even know she existed before I opened my big mouth. I just wish I knew what his intentions are."

"Perhaps you should slip a _'Colour-me-deadly-sins'_ into his drink like you did in first year," Scorpius said, smiling in remembrance at the trick they'd played on Davies all those years ago.

Albus looked at him in surprise. "That was really clever, Scorpius. Do you think Uncle George would send me some more if I owled him and asked?"

Scorpius shrugged. "He's your Uncle. Is he one of the ones still speaking to you, or is he on your mum's side?"

Most of Al's family had settled somewhat after his explosion. Al's mum was still silent in regards to Scorpius, but she continued to write to Al, carefully avoiding any mention of him or any troubles regarding their marriage. At least he thought so; Al generally showed him any letters his mum had written to him.

"Uncle George is…Uncle George." Al shrugged. "I can only ask him."

'You do that. Although are you prepared for purple hair and the word 'Lust' flashing above his head so everyone can see what his intentions towards your sister are?"

"At least she'll know what he's after then," Al said, defiantly.

"I think she knows that already, Al. And I bet she welcomes it."

Al turned on him, red in the face. "How can you say that about Lily? She's my sister!"

"Al, calm down. She's only a year younger than us and we think about sex all the time. Why should it be any different for girls?"

"I don't care about girls. Lily is my sister; she doesn't think like that."

Scorpius laughed at Al's indignation and his short memory. "All right, who was sitting between us a couple of weeks ago foiling an attempt at filming any sort of handjob action going on under the table?"

"That was us, that's different than her thinking about herself having sex," Al replied, though the tone of his voice indicated that he'd realised he was being a bit of an over protective brother.

"Stop being a chauvinistic prat and feed me bacon," Scorpius demanded, leaning over and nudging him with his shoulder. "It's better than spending your breakfast thinking about Davies. I might get jealous if you do that too much longer."

Al turned his gorgeous green eyes on Scorpius, who melted when Al's eyes softened into fond amusement. "If I slip you a _'Colour-me-deadly-sins'_ your hair would turn green, then?"

Scorpius froze and smiled sweetly at Al. "If you did that, Potter, you might wake up one day to find your bollocks hanging from your curtains."


	40. Chapter 40

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: This is the second last chapter. One more to go and this arc will be completed and I'll be taking a break from as/s for a while in order to complete my other H/D stories. Bloody plot bunnies keep multiplying in my head for them... Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, although it deals with issues that may be triggering for some people, so read with care please.

much love

jamie

xxxx

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"Lily, do you have a moment?"

Lily looked up from her book at Scorpius. It had taken him a few days to finally catch Lily alone so he could talk to her. She always seemed to have her friends hanging around. Or Davies. Scorpius had caught them kissing in a darkened alcove yesterday and if it hadn't been for the fact that it was in a seldom used corridor that Scorpius had used as a shortcut to the kitchens, then he might have thought Lily and Davies had wanted to be caught. They certainly looked smug enough when he'd interrupted them.

At least he'd finally caught her in the Library and in public. There was a wary resignation in Lily's eyes as she looked around the Library before returning to give him a nod. "As long as you don't plan on spending it lecturing me on who I should and shouldn't be seeing."

Scorpius held up his hand and shook his head. "As I've said to you before, I'm the last person to be telling you that." He sat down and dropped his bag beside him on the floor. "I just want to know that you're all right," he said. "This fight between you and Al is making everything tense and difficult."

"He should have thought of that before he stuck his big, fat nose in where he shouldn't." Lily sniffed and went back to reading her book.

"Look," Scorpius said. "He is only concerned that you're going to get hurt. Davies has never shown us that he's worth your attention." Scorpius kept going when he saw Lily open her mouth to protest. "I know he's different with you, but Al doesn't know that. He's worried about you."

"He doesn't think I can look after myself?" Lily raised an eyebrow as she sat back and crossed her arms. Scorpius knew very well she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Decent hexes seemed to run in the females of that family. Lily was as adept at Bat Bogey hexes as he'd heard her mother was.

"He knows you can, he just doesn't trust Davies."

Lily sighed. "I hate arguing with him, but I was…am so angry he decided to play God and tell me who I could and couldn't see. And his behaviour since has hardly been that of someone who has realised he was wrong! Instead he's gone right ahead and had people follow me! How dare he?"

This was getting Scorpius nowhere, and he tiredly rubbed at his forehead before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes, instead. "I'm sorry," he began.

"Stop it, Scorpius. You've done nothing to apologise for and you certainly do not need to apologise for my brother. He's big enough and ugly enough to do that for himself. But I don't suppose he's going to, is he?"

Scorpius shook his head. "He thinks he's right. He thinks he's looking out for you."

Lily snorted. "He only thinks that because he's an overprotective brother. Sometimes I wonder what you see in him."

I love him because of those very things, Scorpius said to himself. "I want you to promise me something, Lily. Just because we're friends and you trust me."

For a long moment, Lily just stared at him. Then she nodded. "As long as you don't tell me not to see him, I will."

"I keep getting a bad feeling about all of this, so I want you to be extra careful about being alone with him."

"Scorpius—"

"_No_! Listen, Lily, please!" Scorpius' head was beginning to throb; he'd have to make a detour to the Infirmary for a potion on his way back to the common room. Lily stopped and resumed a petulant stare. "I'm not asking you not to see him or not to be alone with him, I'm asking you to take precautions when you are. Always make sure you have an escape route, always make sure you have access to your wand and please don't drink or eat anything he gives you."

Lily stared at him, petulance gone, replaced by sheer shock that was quickly becoming anger. "How can you even suggest that?"

"For me, Lily, please?" Scorpius pleaded. "It would ease my mind if you would."

For several moments, Lily sat there, looking over Scorpius' shoulder, frowning. Scorpius was extremely relieved when she sighed and nodded. "You do realise that you've thrown a bucket of water over my sex life," she grumbled.

"You do realise it was this or put up with Al sneaking _'Colour-me-deadly-sins'_ into Davies' drink at every opportunity?" Scorpius shot back, relieved she'd agreed.

Lily gave a small laugh. "He put you up to this?"

"No, but I can tell him about it and it might make him back off a little. Tell me honestly, are you pushing things to make him angry because you're arguing?"

She had the grace to blush. "A little, I have to admit. Once he began to play god, I chased Aaron with more determination than I had before, and now things are moving pretty quickly."

"And you're all right with that?"

"Oh, yes," she replied, smiling a smile that Scorpius knew was her extremely happy smile. "I know you don't trust him, but I love him."

And there wasn't a lot he could say to that. Though his sense of foreboding clung to him like fog on a winter morning.

.o0o.

There was a rather large stone digging into Scorpius' back. Not that he cared or barely even noticed, seeing that Al's tongue was doing delicious things to his ear and he was shivering with desire from each delectable swirling.

"Al, we have class - _oh, that's nice._" It was a feeble protest and he knew it. Or he would have known it if he weren't half delirious with arousal. His knees were weak and for a moment he considered just falling to the floor and letting Al have his way with him, but the corridor outside their classroom was hardly the place to put on a show. Not when the rest of their classmates would be along at any moment.

Al reluctantly pulled away and looked at Scorpius with darkened eyes. "We really need to find somewhere private to do this properly. It should be illegal for you to look this good first thing in the morning."

"Flatterer," Scorpius responded, rolling his eyes. And he was flattered, he loved hearing Al tell him how good he looked, he loved seeing Al want him. From the time that Al had stalked him through the Great Hall, Scorpius had become addicted to the way Al wanted him.

"I mean it. It's not far from end of term and knowing my family they'll find a way to keep us apart as much as they can over the summer. And when we're together we'll be watched. I want some private time. Just the two of us."

Scorpius smiled and leant in, kissing his very cute boyfriend deeply. "We'll find somewhere."

"We'd better."

.o0o.

Scorpius liked walking the halls at night. On his way back from the Slytherin common room he never dawdled – there was always the chance of being caught out after curfew - but there was something comforting about the ancient stonework that made him feel like he was walking the halls of history.

He'd left a sleepy Al in his room getting ready for bed after having spent the evening in the common room chatting with their mates and fitting in a twenty-inch Charms Essay amongst the laughter. Scorpius enjoyed those evenings. It made him feel like he belonged.

As he was walking past the portrait of Sir Hendricks, the old gentleman waved at him. "Good evening young man."

"Good evening, Sir Hendricks. Good to see you found your horse, then."

"Oh, ho, indeed. Blighter was off grazing in the clover with the brazen filly from the third floor."

Scorpius laughed. "Well, you have him back now. No harm done."

"Bloody women," Sir Hendricks grumbled.

Scorpius was about to walk off when he heard several muffled thumps from a side corridor. He stopped for a moment to listen. Perhaps it was the caretaker, Corner, out doing rounds. Then he heard what sounded like a hand hitting skin and a grunt.

Really puzzled now, Scorpius turned and walked toward where he heard the sound coming from. It hadn't seemed too far away and there was enough light from candles on the wall to see by.

As he walked, he realised that up ahead he could see a shapeless mass up against the wall and it wasn't until he came closer he saw that it was two unidentifiable people engaged in something he'd like to be doing with Albus.

He gasped and one of the figures broke apart revealing that it was Aaron Davies, which meant the person he was with was probably Lily. Scorpius had no wish to see Lily doing anything sexual with Aaron Davies but he had to look at her to make sure she was all right.

"What the fuck are you doing here, faggot," Davies yelled, snarling. He'd left his hand on Lily's chest, holding her against the wall.

Scorpius caught Lily's eye and his stomach rolled over. There was a look of a frightened animal, trapped and injured in her eyes. She was panicked and her face was streaked with tears and blotchy red, and she was strangely silent. There were several rips in her robes that exposed more of her than he knew she would be comfortable with. He growled and whipped his wand out. "_Stupefy_!" he yelled and Davies went down, stunned. "_Incarcerous_," he added and Davies was bound, unable to move even if he did come out of the Stunning spell.

He turned to Lily and found her still stuck to the wall. "_Finite Incantatem_," he whispered and caught her as she fell, gasping for air, shaking and sobbing.

"Sc--" she tried to speak.

"Shh, it's all right now, I've got you," he said as they sank to the floor and he cradled her in his arms. "He can't hurt you, now," he said, holding her trembling body and rocking in what he hoped was a comforting manner.

She buried her head on his shoulder and clung to him as she cried, her slight body shaking and heaving with the great gulping breaths she tried to take from time to time.

"Are you hurt in any way?" he asked.

She shook her head, and haltingly spoke. "No, n-nothing like that. H-he just h-hit me a f-few times." Then she broke into more sobbing. Scorpius smoothed her hair and murmured soothing words as she sobbed.

"Why d-did he do that, S-scorpius?" her words were faltering and broken. She was obviously distraught.

"I don't know, love."

"H-he said that I was w-worthless and a s-stupid little s-schoolgirl. He t-took my wand."

Scorpius made himself a vow that he would make sure that Davies paid dearly for his actions. He couldn't bear seeing Lily like this. Albus was going to go berserk.

'I sc-screamed and screamed b-but he put a silencing ch-charm on me."

"Come on, love. We need to get you to the Infirmary. Can you walk?"

She shook her head. "I d-don't think my l-legs would h-hold me yet. S-sorry." She hiccupped.

"Don't think about it," Scorpius said. 'There's not much of you. As long as you haven't been gorging on treacle tart, I expect I'll manage carrying you."

She punched his arm weakly, but then cuddled into his chest when he stood and picked her up to carry. He felt her fixing her robes to cover herself better and his heart broke for how shaky and weak she was and what she'd been reduced to.

One part of him wanted to kick Davies until he was a bloodied mass of …mess.

The more rational side needed to make sure Lily was all right and taken care of.

It was a long slow walk to the Infirmary.


	41. Chapter 41

Disclaimer: Not Mine

* * *

Author's Note: This is the end. I've left it so that I can always come back and write more in this universe, but for now my AS/S muse - well this one - has come to an end. I really hope that you've enjoyed the journey with the boys and if I visit them again, you'll come back with me. Thank you to everyone who read and commented - you have no idea how special each comment is to me.

Enjoy.

jamie

xxxx

* * *

Al could hear murmured voices from outside the cubicle. He recognised his dad's voice, along with the nurse's.

_"Can I see her?"_

"_Of course. Just before you go in, I thought I'd let you know that the boy has been taken into custody at the Ministry. As he is of age he'll be tried as an adult. Lily has nothing more to worry about from him." _

"_Thank you. How is she?" _

"_She's all right. She had a few bruises but I've healed those. Other than that she was more scared than hurt. Though if Mr. Malfoy had not come across her when he did…"_

Lily squeezed his hand and he turned to look at her. She was looking a lot better than when he'd first seen her. She'd looked like she wanted to become invisible, as if she felt the judgmental eyes of the whole world on her and she was breaking under their scrutiny. At least now she looked like she was ready to face anything again. It would be a battle, but Al knew his sister was anything but a coward.

Scorpius was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, holding Lily's other hand. He'd stayed with her since he found her, and Al could not love his boyfriend more if he tried. Telling him that was a bit difficult due to where they were, but Al tried to make his feelings clear through a look.

He was a bit surprised when Scorpius stood.

"I'll be off now to let you and your family have some time together."

Lily let go of Al's hand and used both her hands to grasp onto Scorpius'. "No, stay, please?" Her voice had a pleading quality to it and Al decided she wasn't feeling as strong as he'd thought after all.

"Your dad is here now, and your mum will be soon, too, and I'm sure they don't want me hanging around," Scorpius said.

"I don't care what they want. I want you to stay."

"I think you should stay if she wants it," James spoke up from the foot of the bed. "She's had a scare and she feels safe with you, so stay. We'll deal with mum."

"Look, I don't want to create any problems; this is traumatic enough for your family as it is and you should all be focusing on taking care of Lily rather than fighting amongst yourselves over me."

Al had opened his mouth and was about to echo James' statement, when someone beat him to it.

"I think James is right," his dad said, pushing aside the curtain. "If Lily wants you here, then you should stay."

"Dad!" Lily said, letting go of Scorpius' hand and holding out her arms. She barely had time to open them, though, because Harry had moved immediately to sit on the side of the bed and he drew her close.

"It's all right, princess," Harry murmured into her hair and held her while she cried again. His head turned to Scorpius. "Thank you, Scorpius. We'll always be grateful to you."

"I just happened to be there. Anyone else would have done the same thing," Scorpius replied, blushing. Al adored him even more when he blushed.

"Be that as it may, this family has caused you a lot of grief over the years and a lesser man might not have been so generous."

"Lily is my friend, sir, I'll always look out for her."

Harry smiled at him. "Your father wanted me to pass on that he's very proud of you." At their confused looks, Harry added. "We were having tea together when the call came."

Scorpius smiled and blushed even deeper, although Al knew that Mr. Malfoy often told Scorpius how proud he was.

"Where's mum?" Lily asked, her voice quiet against Harry's chest.

"She's on her way. She was babysitting one of George's and had to get someone to come and look after him. She'll be here any time now."

"W-What will happen to Aaron now?" she asked.

Al saw all three male faces harden at the question and felt his own mirror theirs. His dad answered as calm as anything, though it was obvious that it was a forced calm. "He'll be tried as an adult so he'll probably go to Azkaban."

"Good." James, Scorpius and Al all answered at once. Then everyone fell silent as if realising the horror of the situation, just how big it was and what the far-reaching consequences were.

Al's mum bustled in then and ruined the silence. "Lily!" she cried, and took her from Harry's arms and into her own. The rest of them just watched. Ginny's eyes moved at last to look closely at Scorpius. Al tensed and held his breath, unsure of how his mother was going to react. Surely by now…

"Scorpius Malfoy," she began and Al groaned. She was using her 'I'm most displeased' voice. This was not going to be pretty. Perhaps she was going to order him from the room, or blame him somehow. Al stood up.

"Mum…"

"Sit down, Albus," she said. "This needs to be said."

Al looked at Scorpius who was frowning, chin tight and defiant, his face pale now instead of the pretty pink blush it had been.

Ginny turned back to Scorpius. "If you hurt my Albus, I'll find some way to make your life miserable."

Everyone gasped and Harry tried to intervene, as Lily said "No, mum!"

"But if you think you can leave this family now, you can just think again. Thank you, Scorpius. I am so sorry for everything I've ever said about you and I hope you can forgive me."

Al had to give his mum credit. When she did something, she really did it properly.

While everyone stood around flabbergasted, Ginny held out her hand towards Scorpius. When he smiled and took it, everyone exhaled a huge sigh of relief and Albus nearly choked, overcome with emotion.

.o0o.

A few weeks later, Albus was making his way outside with a huge picnic basket full of goodies pilfered from the kitchen. With the kind permission of the house-elves of course. It was such a lovely day, that, being a Sunday, they all decided to enjoy the sunshine on the lawns. Albus had been designated the one most likely to sweet talk the house-elves into a picnic basket, especially seeing as there were several free house-elves working at Hogwarts now and they remembered Dobby and his love of Harry Potter fondly. As it turned out, they were only too happy to fill a huge basket to the brim with delicious food.

Albus paused when he reached the Entrance Hall doors, and looked out across the lawns to his friends and family. James had grown up, Al thought, which was a good thing seeing as it was his last year at Hogwarts. Since Lily's attack, he'd been attentive and available, wanting to be a big brother, instead of thinking Al and Lily were just annoying siblings. Al smiled as he noticed his brother tossing and catching a practice snitch, preening under the adoring smile of Megan Davies.

He was really proud of the way Lily and Megan tried hard to save their friendship after her brother turned out to be such a dick. None of them wanted to be hypocritical and shut Megan out because of her brother. Scorpius had reminded them of that. Consequently, Megan was Scorpius' number one fan, though she saved her adoring puppy eyed look for James. It was pretty easy to see that she was sweet on him.

Rose and even Hugo, who'd overcome his dislike of Scorpius, too, were sitting on the grass and laughing at something James said. Bobby, Seamus and Chase were wrestling on the grass beside them, all entangled arms and legs and shouts of pain and cried of laughter. Al could hear Chase yelling, "Give over, you knob," at Seamus who had his fingers stuck up Chase's nose, so it sounded more like, "Gib ober you knob." Al thought Chase was probably more worried about the fact that Bobby Longbottom was sitting on him, hands up his shirt and tickling him, more than anything else. Regardless, it made him smile to see them enjoying themselves.

To one side, Posey Greengrass sat, her eye on Chase Smith and Al wondered if he saw a little covetous glance there or not. Perhaps he was imagining things. These days he was so happy that he wished he could bottle it and hand it out to his friends. Everyone should find someone they loved; have friends as brilliant as his were and thrill in the happiness. He knew it was sappy, but after the year he'd had, he deserved some happiness.

His eyes moved to Lily. She was lying with her head in Scorpius' lap. He was combing his hands through her hair and if he didn't know Scorpius was as committed to him as he was to Scorpius, then he might have been jealous. They really were very comfortable with each other.

Their bond had grown in the days after the attack. The group that gathered on the lawns now had all combined together to ensure that Lily was never allowed to go anywhere on her own. Someone accompanied her everywhere; as much for their own piece of mind as for Lily's. After a few days she bounced back as strong as ever and chafed under the attention, but she never became more than irritated and she never told them to stop immediately. It sort of phased itself out after a week or so.

But she stuck with Scorpius more than the others. They had a close friendship and neither of them wanted to let that slide.

Scorpius. Al sighed in wonderment at his boyfriend. After all the pain filled wretched times they'd been through; through all Al's doubts about how he felt, Scorpius had always stood by him, strong and sure like a rock. Al smiled. Scorpius was his rock. His mind slipped back to just the other day when he'd made Scorpius harder than a rock. A small smirk twisted his lips as he remembered stretching them around Scorpius' cock for the first time, tasting the deep tang that was his Scorpius. He'd taken his time, not having ever done it before, obviously and not sure how to keep his teeth from scraping the hot flesh. At first he thought he was making a complete twat of himself, showing how inexperienced he was because Scorpius kept twisting and gasping and trying to pull Al away by the hair. But then he'd found himself with a mouthful of pulsing cock and bitter fluid while Scorpius curled, spasming around him, and he knew he'd done a good job.

As he stood there, listening to their laughter, seeing the happiness and peace on their faces – well all except Chase who was still struggling to get free – Al's chest expanded with so much joy that he thought it might burst and overflow. The school year was coming to an end, the weather was wonderfully warm and his friends and family were well. Life was good.


End file.
